Fire extinguished at Ukraine nuclear power plant, Europe's largest • Hacker News Board

Re: Fire extinguished at Ukraine nuclear power plant, Europe's largest

#181

Post by ianai » Fri, Mar 04, 2022, 1:59 AM UTC

Comevius wrote: post #157

doener wrote: post #98

Firefighter have access now: https://twitter.com/bnonews/status/1499555239351005194?s=21 https://twitter.com/nexta_tv/status/1499555095817728023?s=21 "According to Andrey Tuz, spokesman of the press service of the nuclear power plant, there is no threat of radiation spread."

Thankfully the reactors are behind the camera streaming the administrative building. Hopefully nothing goes wrong during the takeover. The reactor containment itself is robust, but the potential for human error in a war that keeps escalating should not be discounted.

I’ve read/heard the point is to destroy the reactor for the Russians. They’ve attempted to reach out to the Russians to no avail. It produces 1/4 the country’s power.

Re: Fire extinguished at Ukraine nuclear power plant, Europe's largest

#182

Post by RickJWagner » Fri, Mar 04, 2022, 1:59 AM UTC

"Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a 'special operation' that is not designed to occupy territory but to destroy its neighbour's military capabilities and capture what it regards as dangerous nationalists. It denies targeting civilians."

How very Reuters of them. I should have expected nothing less.

Re: Fire extinguished at Ukraine nuclear power plant, Europe's largest

#183

Post by JumpCrisscross » Fri, Mar 04, 2022, 2:00 AM UTC

lumost wrote: post #175

wlll wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That almost seems irellevant, even if Putin cared what people think (I don't think he does for the most part), he controls almost all of the media in the country. He can just tell people "Ukraine did it" and they can believe him or not, it doesn't really matter.

A large ecological disaster from an open air uncontrolled nuclear power plant fire would be a European wide concern. The results could be considered a WMD.

> results could be considered a WMD

What rubbish. This looks like Putin found a way to tactically deploy dirty nukes within the West’s red lines.

Re: Fire extinguished at Ukraine nuclear power plant, Europe's largest

#184

Post by throwanem » Fri, Mar 04, 2022, 2:00 AM UTC

nickff wrote: post #169

_dain_ wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>This is, so far as I know, the first time anyone has carried out a military attack on a nuclear plant The Israelis bombed an Iraqi plant in the 80s I think.

You're talking about Operation Opera, which was an attack on the unfinished Osirak reactor in Iraq. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Opera

Still a fair callout. Edited my original comment to clarify.

Re: Fire extinguished at Ukraine nuclear power plant, Europe's largest

#185

Post by dimitrios1 » Fri, Mar 04, 2022, 2:01 AM UTC

mwattsun wrote: post #154

smrtinsert wrote: post #125

I am absolutely livid and terrified for the state of the world right now.

I was only 4 during the Cuban Missile crisis, but I've talked to people who remember it and this sounds a lot like it.

Unironically, it is exactly that crisis that is key to understanding Russias actions right now, as there are many similar parallels. That, plus the 2.5T barrels worth of shale that Chevron and Exxon prospected underneath the Crimean peninsula.

If Russia really did go to war over securing some natural resources and a geopolitical strategic location, over a false pretense of something like liberation, it would sound so much like...well, us.

So let us take a quick moment of pause and realize that this demon lives well within our own borders, too.

Hoping and praying for peace.

Re: Fire extinguished at Ukraine nuclear power plant, Europe's largest

#186

Post by QuarterReptile » Fri, Mar 04, 2022, 2:02 AM UTC

elihu wrote: post #133

ttybird2 wrote: post #10

I do not understand, why are they fighting near the reactor? It only makes sense to keep troops of both sides away from something as dangerous.

I wonder if Russia thinks it gives them a strategic advantage to be able to turn the power on and off at will? (Hypothetically, if they have full control of some city, they can turn the power back on and the people are less likely to revolt.) This whole situation reminds me of the Mosul dam in Iraq, which was controlled by ISIS for awhile. The dam is kept stable by continuous grouting operations, which I believe were…

Without knowing the particular reactor designs, I'll just say it's extremely unlikely they can turn it on and off like a tap (or even up and down significantly) due to the resulting poison transients.

Re: Fire extinguished at Ukraine nuclear power plant, Europe's largest

#187

Post by hinkley » Fri, Mar 04, 2022, 2:02 AM UTC

adastra22 wrote: post #102

lupire wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We know what happened in Japan when an earthquake attacked a nuclear plant.

It’s not comparable because the type of damage is totally different.

The type of damage at Fukushima was anticipated to be survivable as well, was it not? And yet here we are.

Re: Fire extinguished at Ukraine nuclear power plant, Europe's largest

#188

Post by worldsayshi » Fri, Mar 04, 2022, 2:02 AM UTC

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #180

mwattsun wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was only 4 during the Cuban Missile crisis, but I've talked to people who remember it and this sounds a lot like it.

The Cuban missile crisis seemed far less stupid. Like, shelling the nuclear power plant?

Stupid or really nihilistic.

Maybe projecting nihilism is a strategy of its own. If I act as if there is nothing I care about except my goal you will never convince me to give up. So you have to give up to spare casualties.

Re: Fire extinguished at Ukraine nuclear power plant, Europe's largest

#189

Post by michaelmrose » Fri, Mar 04, 2022, 2:03 AM UTC

_dain_ wrote: post #134

throwanem wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Potentially. I'd worry more about coolant and power (to run the coolant pumps if the plant has to shut down) than about direct hits on a containment structure, but it's not like that won't eventually also cause problems if they keep doing it. This is, so far as I know, the first time anyone has carried out a military attack on an operating nuclear plant. Nobody knows yet how that really plays out. But it looks like w…

>This is, so far as I know, the first time anyone has carried out a military attack on a nuclear plant The Israelis bombed an Iraqi plant in the 80s I think.

The bombed an unfinished plant that they believed would have been critical in paving the way for a belligerent dictator to obtain nuclear weapons courtesy of short sighted idiots in Europe.

Both the Iranians and the Israelis actually bombed the site one different operations in different years. Thereafter Saddam is now known to have said.

"Once Iraq walks out victorious [over Iran], there will not be any Israel"

It was both justified and didn't represent the risk that attacking this reactor represents.

Re: Fire extinguished at Ukraine nuclear power plant, Europe's largest

#190

Post by kQq9oHeAz6wLLS » Fri, Mar 04, 2022, 2:04 AM UTC

JudasGoat wrote: post #76

kQq9oHeAz6wLLS wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From the Russian perspective, taking out Ukraine's power is strategic and demoralizing. Though I think we're seeing the Ukrainians are fierce when cornered, so probably isn't the morale breaker they think it is.

"From the Russian perspective, taking out Ukraine's power is strategic and demoralizing." It would seem to me as though the Russians are living in a glass house when it comes to energy sabotage. The map of Russian petroleum pipelines going through Ukraine is substantial.

At this point it seems as though Putin won't back down for fear of being perceived as weak. He'd rather be seen as a madman. Which may be why some of these choices seem, well...mad.