From WSJopinion: Putin is attacking not only Ukraine but the international order that protects the peaceful use of nuclear power. Securing Ukraine’s nuclear power plants and radioactive material is urgent, write James L. Regens and Eugene A. Hughes.
Tactical and strategic weapons aren’t the only nuclear threat from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. That became clear last Friday with the predawn attack on Europe’s largest nuclear power plant—the Zaporizhzhya plant in Enerhodar. Russian troops shelled the facility, sparking a fire in the plant’s administrative facility that set off alarms around the world. The blaze didn’t affect the six reactors or stored spent fuel, and Russian forces occupied the plant without any radiation leak.
“We survived the night that could have put an end to history,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said. The attack removed any doubt that Vladimir Putin is willing to risk nuclear catastrophe. If Ukraine loses the capacity to secure and protect fuel rods, waste and other radioactive material at its civilian nuclear power plants, it will threaten the environment, safety and public health well beyond Ukraine’s borders.