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Russia-Ukraine war may increase support for nuclear energy despite power plant scares

"The Russia-Ukraine war may increase demand for nuclear energy, nuclear power advocates say, even amid simmering fears that Russian President Vladimir Putin's brutal war may result in a radioactive incident at one of Ukraine's nuclear power plants. 

The comments come after multiple scares about the safety of Ukraine's nuclear sites in the first two weeks of Russia's invasion, including a power failure at the defunct Chernobyl plant Wednesday. 

Surveillance camera footage shows a flare landing at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant during shelling in Enerhodar, Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine March 4, 2022. (Zaporizhzhya NPP via YouTube/via REUTERS)

But the Russia-Ukraine war is also renewing a focus on energy security in the West — including in the role nuclear power can play in that, according to Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) senior vice president for policy development and public affairs John Kotek."