Ukrainian fears run high over fighting near nuclear plant

By FRANK JORDANS and HANNA ARHIROVA
Associated Press

NIKOPOL, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainians are once again anxious and alarmed about the fate of a nuclear power plant in a land that was home to the world’s worst atomic accident in 1986 at Chernobyl. The Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, Europe’s largest, has been occupied by Russian forces since early in the war, and continued fighting nearby has heightened fears of a catastrophe that could affect nearby towns in southern Ukraine or beyond. No civilian nuclear plant is designed for a wartime situation, although experts say Zaporizhzhia’s six reactors are protected by reinforced concrete that could withstand an errant shell. One concern is that a disruption of the plant’s power supply could knock out cooling systems essential for the safe operation of the reactors.