In the Ukraine War, nuclear It is not a purely arms issue. Among the most devastating scenarios that beat about the contest is the possibility of an error that leads to an unprecedented environmental disaster. We already knew that the Chernobil plant He had a hole And continue Without being able to repairbut the reach is much broader than the sadly famous plant.
Under constant threat. The truth is that the Russian invasion of Ukraine has not only transformed the military map of Europe, but has put at risk an extensive network of nuclear facilities that were never designed to resist bombings. Although international attention has focused on Zaporiyia Centralthe largest in Europe and in Russian hands since 2022the country houses multiple reactors, research laboratories and spent fuel deposits that make up a delicate risk mosaic.
Among them stands out Institute of Physics and Technology from Járkov, where is the known device as Neutron Sourcewhich contains several tens of kilos of enriched uranium capable of polluting vast areas if they were dispersed. Located just 14 kilometers from the front, the building has suffered More than 70 impacts Russian ammunition confirmed, which fears that Moscow’s goal is not accidental, but deliberate.
Járkov, military white. The Institute, which in Soviet times contributed to the design of The first atomic bomb From Moscow, he agreed in 2010 withdrawing his uranium suitable for armament and sending it to Russia under pressure from the United States, in a non -proliferation effort. However, still custody materials of enormous danger, such as high radiation uranium contained in Neutron Source, built with US financing in exchange for that resignation.
The installation combines a core of the size of a school bus with a particle accelerator about 30 meters, surrounded by metal shields, but the building that houses it It lacks protection in front of attacks. The bombings have left cracks, have dropped plaster of the walls and reached destroy a transformer In 2022, plunging the complex in blackout months and forcing scientists to improvise heating systems to avoid irreversible damage to fuel bars. Ukraine accuses Russia of echocideclaiming that a direct impact could release radiation on an area inhabited by 640,000 people.
The nuclear installation of Neutron Source in Járkov on April 4
Chernobil’s spectrum. We have gone counting. Since the beginning of the invasion, the nuclear catastrophe scenarios have been present. In February 2025, A Russian drone pierced The steel structure covered by the reactor 4 of Chernobil, the most contaminated area of the planet, breaking its hermetic seal, although without immediate leaks. In Zaporiyia, repeated attacks have put the cooling of the six reactorsespecially after destruction in 2023 on a dam that forced to depend on an emergency pond and two electric lines vulnerable to artillery.
Each incident envives the fear of a radiological accident that, even without being of the Magnitude of 1986could disperse contaminating materials by large areas of Eastern Europe. The mere synchronization of certain attacks, such as Chernobil’s On the eve of the Munich Security Conference, it is played by kyiv and its allies as strategic messages of the Kremlin, which uses nuclear risk as a weapon of political intimidation.
Collateral effects Plus: Not only Ukrainian facilities are in danger. At the end of August, remains of an intercepted Ukrainian drone They damaged a station Transformer in the immediate vicinity of the Kursk Central, in Russian territory, forcing to reduce its production. The episode illustrated how war turns civil nuclear infrastructures into collateral damage to a military confrontation in which drones, missiles and artillery operate increasingly closest to high -risk objectives.
The experts Remember That no central or research laboratory in Ukraine was built to withstand direct impacts of modern ammunition, so the prolongation of the conflict multiplies the probabilities of an accident.
Between resilience and constant threat. Had the New York Times In a wide report that, despite the daily danger, the Ukrainian scientists of the Járkov Institute They continue with projects of nuclear fusion and experiments with radioactive hydrogen, collecting data that they expect to present in international conferences. The paradox of continuing to investigate under bombing reflects both the resilience of the personnel and the fragility of a country that, in addition to resisting militarily, must guard materials whose release would have devastating consequences.
In the words of one of the center engineers to the TimesRussian attacks seem to lack logic, but their repetition suggests a pressure strategy through radiological risk. Until now the catastrophe has been avoided fortune and technical contingenciesbut every day of war prolongs a pulse in which radiation could become involuntary or deliberate weapon, with effects that would overflow the borders of Ukraine.
Image | Ministry of Defense of UkraineEnergoatom.com.ua
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