The Professor of Risk Assessment at the European University, George Bustras[/B], does not see the possibility of a nuclear accident from the power cut at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant[/B], noting that it is very important that information about what is happening on the ground there is accurate,
Speaking to CNA, he explained that a nuclear plant, if it is properly maintained, according to international standards, does not pose any particular risk. A nuclear plant in normal use, 99.9% of the time, will not have any problems,[/B] he added. "All these designs, of course, do not take into account the case of war. Possible losses at a nuclear plant could have an impact, create a nuclear accident."
For Mr. Bustra, the information that comes in during a war, from one side or the other, is important. "It has usually been instrumentalized. It doesn't necessarily mean it's accurate," he pointed out. He reminded that all countries - including Cyprus - have measurements of radiation levels in the atmosphere, as do international organisations.
In the event of an accident, he continued, neighbouring countries will be tweaked, which does not seem to be the case in Ukraine at the moment. "The most important thing is to have accurate information.In case there is an attack on a nuclear power plant which I would consider an absolute barbarity, a real crime and I hope we don't experience it - certainly we will have to look at the potential of the winds."
The professor noted that Cyprus is quite far from Ukraine, but recalled that the cloud from the 1986 Chernobyl accident had been carried, due to the winds, all the way to the Iberian Peninsula, early in the Atlantic Ocean.
"Let's not create panic. There is no such thing so far. But if there was we would have to look at it at that moment to see what we would do." It also gives us lessons, he added, regarding the nuclear power plant under construction in Akkuyu, Turkey
He also noted that nuclear power plants are built to the highest standards and are extremely unlikely by design to have an accident. The major accidents in America in 1978, in the Soviet Union later, and Kozloduy in Bulgaria more recently, are "minimal compared to the number of plants and their history over time. But there may be."
Impact of US and UK restrictions on Russian energy
Asked to comment on the US and UK decisions on Russian energy and whether there is a risk of fuel shortages in the markets, George Bustras said that decisions in a war situation are also about the impact they have on the countries making them and does not mean that they take into account the induced risk they may have on other countries. This is about how those decisions are made, he clarified.
For Cyprus, he said, it seems that there will be a short-term, maybe a medium-term problem,[/B] since the market here is oil-dependent and there is expected to be an impact on transport and electricity prices as oil rises.
But we should consider that there are other sources of energy supply of traditional fuels other than Russia, he said, noting that the EU should have done some initial planning in relation to supply. We should also look, as in any crisis, at the opportunity created for investment in alternative forms of energy, he added, what the President of the European Commission urged yesterday.
Bustras noted that Cyprus has a very large solar potential,[/B] which surprisingly - he said - has not been exploited to date, and would be a huge legacy for energy production, noting that we have about 300 days a year of sunshine and large untapped expanses.
In the long term planning, he continued, there will certainly be a rebalancing of the situation, the market is self-regulating and consumers will act accordingly by using fuel less or more in relation to the price they find it.
Source: CNA
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