Ukraine- safeguard 15 nuclear reactors with international peacekeepers

As Russian missiles and bombs rain on Ukraine, there could be a hit on a reactor, or an act of sabotage, or an accident because the country’s resources are spread too thin. The threat of allowing a meltdown could be used to blackmail Ukraine into submission. Chernobyl, the Ukrainian nuclear reactor which melted down in 1986, continues to pose a threat to all of Europe.

Nuclear accidents are an international problem, and the possibility in Ukraine merits an international intervention We call for a ceasefire, during which international peacekeeping teams would be put in place to operate and guard Ukraine’s nuclear reactors. The airspace above them should be designated as no-fly zones, and they should be brightly illuminated so that ground fire knows to avoid them.

Bennett Ramberg, an expert on nuclear weapons, wrote in an op-ed for Project Syndicate last week: “Of all the obvious dangers that come with war, one of the most far-reaching in the current Russia-Ukraine conflict has been woefully underappreciated. Even if commanders took pains to avoid striking Ukraine’s 15 nuclear power reactors, that might not be enough to avoid a catastrophe. “The reactors present a daunting specter. If struck, the installations could effectively become radiological mines. And Russia itself would be a victim of the ensuing wind-borne radioactive debris,” Ramberg observed.
 “Were a reactor core to melt, explosive gases or belching radioactive debris would exit the containment structure. Once in the atmosphere, the effluents would settle over thousands of miles, dumping light to very toxic radioactive elements on urban and rural landscapes. And spent nuclear fuel could cause further devastation if storage pools were set afire.”

Nuclear radiation is in a category by itself when it comes to weapons of mass destruction. This is because it attacks the DNA of all living creatures, and remains in the environment for millions of years. We feel there is imminent danger of a nuclear meltdown from a damaged Ukrainian reactor, and urge that steps be taken by the international community to safeguard them.