Abstract
A direct strike on an operative nuclear power plant during military operations has become a possible dramatic scenario in the present Ukrainian crisis. Plausible accidents in such a scenario could be divided into criticality and conventional accidents. The former could occur if auxiliary and safety power plant systems are hit simultaneously, reaching the reactor criticality in an uncontrolled way. The latter could involve the release of radioactivity into the environment as a result of detonations and fires at power plant sites containing radioactive material. Often and incorrectly in recent months, commenting on events at the Zaporizhzhia power plant started on March 2022, the media have compared the consequences of such attacks to that of using a tactical nuclear weapon. From the standpoint of lethality to the population, radionuclides involved, and the extent of contamination of the environment, the two events are deeply different. This explanatory paper aims to study the impact on humans and on the environment of an attack’s consequences on the Zaporizhzhia power plant and those of the detonation of a tactical nuclear warhead of 10 kt (kiloton).