Europe is waking up to the news that there has been an attack with nuclear materials on Ukraine. Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, Zaporizhzhia, was bombed by Russian forces, with reports emerging around 1am GMT. Footage of the fire was captured via Livestream and showed fires outside the main facility. The video appears to show what look like flares being launched towards the power plant. It is possible that a flare caused the fire rather than being a direct result of the bombardment.

⚡️This is the situation in the #Zaporizhzhia NPP looks like right now pic.twitter.com/1q5qguBMLs

— NEXT (@nexta_tv) March 3, 2022

Markets uneasy due to fire at nuclear power plant

Stock, futures and cryptocurrency prices plunged as the news broke amid fears of a disaster even more significant than Chernobyl. S&P, DOW and NASDAQ futures fell sharply, about 2%, in the minutes after the news.

…fuel can get so hot that it catches fire; that, plus the destruction of the building, is really the worst case scenario. That could release an even worse amount of radioactivity than Chernobyl, potentially. (17/x)

— Managing the Atom (@ManagingtheAtom) March 4, 2022

Nervousness increased overnight as world leaders ordered Russia to cease its attack on the nuclear facility. boris johnsonthe UK Prime Minister, took to Twitter:

“Russia must immediately cease its attack on the power plant and allow unrestricted access for emergency services to the plant.”

BTC price parried losses on the day, falling to as low as $41,000 before recovering slightly. It is currently trading about 7% below the local high seen on March 2.

Fears subside

Emergency services extinguished the fire around 4 am GMT, and firefighters are now on the scene. As fears subside, the world’s largest cryptocurrency rallied to roughly $41,600 as it appears investors bought the dip around 8am GMT.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has announced that today at 10:30 CET a press conference will be held to report on the matter. If information emerges suggesting that the situation is not, in fact, under control, then we could see further losses in both crypto and equity prices throughout the day. However, the risk to human life is the most important concern.

The volatility continues

Current information suggests that Russian forces are in control of the power plant. However, the fight could continue if Ukraine tries to regain control. These fears may be responsible for the current instability in the market as BTC gave up its gains this morning, falling to around $40,800 before recovering over $41,500 within minutes.