Doesn't a nuclear "accident" and dirty bomb basically have the same effect?

Depends on the type of accident. If Zaporizhzhya NPP was to have a meltdown or an explosion. It’d poison the ground, parts of the air and probably some water.

If a dirty bomb was set off in say Kherson. The damage would mostly stay in the city. Buildings would possibly get blown up depending on where it was set off. There’d be radiation but not very high levels. Only people close to the detonation site would feel effects of radiation sickness. The main damage would come from the explosion.

While a plant accident would likely spread radiation illnesses for kilometres in multiple directions

^^ what they said!

Ruzzia is hastily trying to find an indirect way to afflict nuclear damage to Ukraine, and do so where they can spin the history lesson in their favor

This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 63%. (I'm a bot)

> The White House on Wednesday condemned Russia's latest barrage of attacks on Ukraine's critical infrastructure and warned that the Kremlin appears "Willing to increase the risk of a nuclear safety incident" as it continues to pummel the country's power grid.

> Multiple regions throughout Ukraine have gone dark following Russia's latest onslaught, forcing Ukraine's state-owned nuclear operator Energoatom to disconnect the country's three fully functioning nuclear power plants from the power grid as part of an "Emergency protection measure."

> "We are in constant touch with Ukraine on its energy infrastructure needs and are working with allies and partners to support Ukraine," Ms. Watson said.

Extended Summary | FAQ | Feedback | Top keywords: Ukraine^#1 nuclear^#2 Russia^#3 people^#4 region^#5

Awe man! I thought the nuclear threats came on the weekend and biological/chemical were on weekdays. Shit's all reversed now. /s

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A plant meltdown with a containment breach is essentially the same thing as a continuously exploding dirty bomb. Imagine a firecraccker blowing smoke out once vs a much larger fire just continuously burning and smoking.