A nuclear power plant utilizes uranium fuel to create steam and generate electricity. This process transforms uranium into other radioactive materials. In the event of an accident at a nuclear power plant, heat and pressure can build up and steam, along with radioactive materials, can be released. The primary impacts of nuclear accidents were not caused by radiation exposure, but rather due to psychological and socio-economic factors resulting from misconceptions and fears about radiation, which could have been largely avoided. The system design of nuclear power plants built in the late 1960s raised operational safety issues and raised concerns that a serious reactor accident could release large quantities of radioactive materials into the atmosphere and the environment.
This has caused international concern, particularly after Russian bombardments caused a fire at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine, leading to fears of a nuclear accident. If the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant melted, the radiation would travel with the winds. Nuclear power plants are not self-sufficient islands; in addition to supplying energy to the power grid, they need to be able to take electricity from it. In 1970, there were doubts about the ability of the emergency cooling system of a nuclear reactor core to cope with the effects of an accident due to loss of coolant and consequent melting of the fuel core; this topic became popular in technical and popular presses. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed concern about the attack on the nuclear plant, saying that if an explosion occurred at the facility it would be the end for everyone.
However, Grossi also clearly stated that there is no current threat of nuclear collapse at that facility. Power reactors, including the Deployable Electric Power Reactor (a larger-scale mobile version of TRIGA for power generation in disaster areas and military missions) and the TRIGA Power System (a small power plant and heat source for small and remote community use) have been submitted by stakeholders engineers and share the safety features of TRIGA due to the uranium zirconium hydride fuel used. While pressurized water reactors are more susceptible to nuclear fusion in the absence of active safety measures, this is not a universal feature of civil nuclear reactors. The most serious nuclear accident occurred on April 26, 1986 at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine (then part of the Soviet Union). Several factors, including reactor design issues and a poor safety culture, led to a failed safety test that resulted in two explosions, a fire that lasted more than a week, and the release of a large amount of radioactive material. The term 'nuclear fusion' is not officially defined by either the International Atomic Energy Agency or by the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The American Nuclear Society has commented on the IMT-2 accident, noting that despite the melting of approximately one third of the fuel, the reactor vessel itself maintained its integrity and contained the damaged fuel. The safety of nuclear power plants in Ukraine is very delicate because it was once part of the Soviet Union and was also home to one of the worst nuclear accidents in history on April 26, 1986 when an explosion at Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant north of Kiev sent a radioactive cloud over much of Europe.
As a result, three cores largely melted over three days and there were several hydrogen explosions as well as release of nuclear material into environment.
