MOSCOW, August 16. /TASS/. A nuclear reactor at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant is robust enough to sustain an impact with a fully fueled plane slamming into it from a height of 10,000 kilometers, Vladimir Rogov, a councilman of the Zaporozhye regional civilian-military administration, said on Tuesday.
"Those who say that there is no danger, mean the reactor itself. The reactors are protected very well. Their reinforced-concrete walls are several meters thick. The safety margin of the reactor is so great that even if an aircraft with full tanks falls on it from a height of 10 km, the reactor should remain intact. To destroy the reactor, you need to use tactical nuclear weapons," he said on Solovyov Live television.
However, there are two weak spots at the plant: the cooling system and spent fuel storage facilities, Rogov said. If hit, they could cause a disaster, he said. The official said Ukrainian forces shell both these areas, with one shell falling within meters of a nuclear fuel tank recently.
The Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, which is located in Energodar, is controlled by Russian troops. In recent days, Ukrainian forces have carried out several strikes on the territory of the station, some of them using drones, heavy artillery and multiple launch rocket systems. In most cases, the attacks are repelled by air defense systems, but some projectiles hit infrastructure and the area of the nuclear waste storage.