There are no such precedents in global practice where long-dormant reactors have experienced a serious accident posing a threat to people or the environment. As is known, all six reactors at ZNPP have been in the safest technological state — cold shutdown — for over three years.This is completely unacceptable to the Kremlin, for which the main purpose of the plant is to use it for nuclear blackmail and to strengthen political influence over Ukraine and European countries.This is why Moscow wants to shift the plant from its currently relatively safe state to a dangerous one by reconnecting the ZNPP to the Russian power grid and subsequently bringing the reactors into operational mode. It is in this operational mode that all recorded hazardous accidents in the history of nuclear energy have occurred.It is clear that when the ZNPP lacks a sufficient number of qualified personnel who understand all the safety-system nuances specific to this facility (and normal working conditions are absent), and the station is being used by Russian armed units as a military foothold for terror, bringing the ZNPP’s reactors into operation would create a real nuclear threat of unprecedented scale.To cover up these dangerous plans, Russia has created a global-scale information shield by frightening the public and some politicians with claims of diesel fuel shortages for the backup generators, and that after ten days of their operation, a major Fukushima-like disaster would occur, since supposedly they cannot operate for longer. Through this information-psychological operation, Russia is trying to legitimize connecting the ZNPP to its power grid and justify its terrorist actions. Unfortunately, IAEA Director General Grossi, as well as some politicians and journalists, have fallen under the influence of this powerful disinformation campaign — not all, apparently, without personal interest. Grossi, for example, seeks to gain support for his own candidacy in the UN Secretary-General elections.Moscow skillfully exploits incompetence at all levels through intimidation. The Kremlin claims that the current state of the reactors is extremely dangerous. In reality, it is quite the opposite.This is done to bring the reactors into a genuinely dangerous state while posing as saviors, claiming that only Russia is preventing a nuclear catastrophe — which, in fact, it is simultaneously creating — while blaming Ukraine.It’s classic George Orwell: safety is danger, and danger is safety. The main thing is not what actually exists, but what people believe.SourceAbout the author. Volodymyr Omelchenko, Director of Energy Programs at the Razumkov Center.The editorial team does not always share the opinions expressed by blog authors.