Weaponising nuclear power – Russia’s war is rewriting the rules

“A nuclear power plant could become, in practice, a new kind of weapon. Nuclear weapons are no longer even needed to instil fear,” says Andrei Stsiapanau, a historian of technology and project researcher at Södertörn University.

When Russian military vehicles rolled across the Ukrainian border in February 2022, one aim was high among their priorities: Chornobyl. The site was immediately transformed from a symbol for humanity’s worst nuclear power disaster to a military asset in the clutch of an invading army.

Shortly afterwards, Russian forces also captured Zaporizhzhia, in south-eastern Ukraine, home to Europe’s largest operational nuclear power plant. It became both a base and a human shield: a large-scale attack could damage the reactors and trigger a meltdown. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) sounded the alarm about the risk of disaster and, despite on-site observers, the Russian hold on the plant has been maintained, and thus the threat of a nuclear accident.

“The boundary has been entirely erased”

“This is the first time a civilian nuclear power plant has become directly involved in a conflict. Russia’s actions mark a decisive shift, demonstrating how nuclear energy has assumed new, militarised significance. Civilian and military nuclear technology have always been linked in some way, but now the boundary has been entirely erased,” says Stsiapanau.

Nuclear power plants have been attacked previously. In the 1980s, during the Iran–Iraq War, the reactor in Bushehr was bombed repeatedly, but the long-term occupation of an operational power plant – and its use as a shield – is fundamentally new and much more dangerous.

As a scenario, a nuclear power plant being taken hostage has long been included in expert risk assessments. In the spring of 2022 it actually happened.

The research community needs to unite

The question that now arises is whether nuclear power can ever be regarded as solely civilian. The “peaceful atom”, a vision that has shaped energy policy since the end of World War Two, now has a darker charge. The world has seen that the heart of electricity generation can be transformed to a war zone.

To address the dual nature of nuclear power – as both an energy source and a potential weapon – a broader, cross-disciplinary dialogue is required. Stsiapanau believes that researchers from the civilian and military sectors must start working together in earnest.

That was the theme of a conference he helped organise in April.

“We wanted to bring together experts on nuclear weapons, nuclear testing and non-proliferation with those who conduct research into nuclear accidents, nuclear waste and energy policy. It is time to view the entire history of nuclear power as a coherent narrative,” he says.