Application\nof the DRASTIC Model to Assess the Vulnerability\nof Groundwater Contamination Near Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant,\nUkraine

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues to have\na devastating\neffect on the well-being of Ukrainians and their environment. We evaluated\na major environmental hazard caused by the war: the potential for\ngroundwater contamination in proximity to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear\nPower Plant (NPP). We quantified groundwater vulnerability with the\nDRASTIC index, which was originally developed by the United States\nEnvironmental Protection Agency and has been used at various locations\nworldwide to assess relative pollution potential. We found that there\nare two major gradients of groundwater vulnerability in the region:\n(1) broadly higher risk to the northeast of the NPP and lower risk\nto the southeast driven by a regional gradient in water availability\nand water table depth; and (2) higher risk in proximity to the channels\nand floodplains of the Dnipro River and tributaries, which host coarser-textured\nsoils and sedimentary deposits. We also found that the DRASTIC vulnerability\nindex can be used to identify and prioritize groundwater well-network\nmonitoring. These and more detailed assessments will be necessary\nto prioritize monitoring and remediation strategies across Ukraine\nin the event of a nuclear accident, and more broadly demonstrate the\nutility of the DRASTIC approach for prognostic contamination risk\nassessment.