Ukraine crisis: How dangerous was Russia's nuclear plant strike?

As claimed by Ukrainian officials, the reactor that was hit was offline, but still contained highly radioactive nuclear fuel

Europe’s largest nuclear power plant was hit allegedly by Russian shelling early Friday, sparking a fire at one of its six reactors and raising fears of a disaster that could affect all of central Europe for decades, like the 1986 Chernobyl meltdown.

Concerns faded after Ukrainian authorities announced that the fire had been extinguished, and while there was damage to the reactor compartment, the safety of the unit was not affected.

But even though the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant is of a different design than Chernobyl and is protected from fire, nuclear safety experts and the International Atomic Energy Agency warn