Ukraine has accused Russian forces of blowing up a major dam and hydroelectric power station, causing a 'catastrophic' flood that could displace hundreds of thousands of people and cause a nuclear disaster by cutting off cooling to a nuclear power plant.

Ukraine blocked all initiatives of IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi on security of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant (ZNPP), including the one regarding establishment of an operational and physical nuclear security zone at the power plant, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said Wednesday.

The Chernobyl nuclear disaster in April 1986 was the first very serious energy reactor accident to occur on the planet. (I leave aside the Windscale UK fire). The second was Fukushima in 2011. Both involved nuclear (not steam) explosions that contaminated the biosphere with the contents of the reactors, hundreds of tons of Uranium fuel contaminated with the radioactive fission products like Caesium-137, Strontium-90 and activation products like Plutonium-239.

International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi has proposed a five-point plan to help ensure safety and security at the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant. Renowned nuclear expert Chris Busby says Grossi’s concerns about the plant’s safety are fully justified, but that much more needs to be done.

Neither Russia nor Ukraine committed to respect five principles laid out by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi on Tuesday to try to safeguard Ukraine's Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

Grossi, who spoke at the U.N. Security Council, has tried for months to craft an agreement to reduce the risk of a catastrophic nuclear accident from military activity like shelling at Europe's biggest nuclear power plant.