The risk of a military attack was greater because one of Zaporozhye’s six reactors was operating at the time. Is Ukraine running reactors because the electricity they produce is absolutely necessary?
Does the Ukrainian government hope that continuing to operate the reactors will minimize the risk of a military attack on the nuclear power plant? How will the lessons learned from the Zaporozhye experience apply to the other three nuclear power plants?
Zaporozhye staff are currently operating the nuclear power plant under Russian control: Any action, including measures related to the technical operation of the reactor, requires the approval of the Russian commander.
communication
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report On March 9, the Zaporizhzhia site had 4 high-voltage (750 kV) off-site power lines, plus 1 standby, but the Ukrainian operator had notified it that two lines were damaged, so there are now two operating lines plus one on standby. Operators say that a single line can meet the power needs.
Whether or not backup generators are sufficient to maintain basic cooling of the reactor and spent fuel in the event of a power outage to the grid will depend on factors such as the integrity of diesel fuel storage and the availability of additional diesel fuel. The inability to run generators was one of the reasons for the Fukushima disaster.
In addition, SNRIU Say Because the Russian military is deployed in the region, its nuclear safety inspectors are not allowed to enter the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant.
In addition to that, SNRIU stands for Telephone Line, Email and Fax unable to work properly In Zaporozhye, only some poor-quality mobile phone service is available, so “reliable information from this site cannot be obtained through normal communication channels”.
International Atomic Energy Agency Say March 11: “Necessary spare parts, equipment and professional personnel are currently unavailable to site for planned repairs, and Unit 1 maintenance activities have been reduced to the minimum required by plant operating procedures.”
Chernobyl
Chernobyl has not had any reactors in operation since 2000, but the plant still has a large amount of spent nuclear fuel, as well as radioactive waste left over from the 1986 Reactor 4 disaster.
The Russian military took control of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant on February 24. Radiation levels rose as heavy military equipment disrupted contaminated dust around the site.
The Russian occupiers have kept around 210 plant operators and guards at the Chernobyl site since February 24 without a new shift to rescue them.
a relative of a worker Tell The BBC said the Russian military was willing to let them switch shifts, but they could not guarantee their safety on their way home or that workers would take over.
psychology
According to the Ukrainian government, workers are received “Psychological stress and moral exhaustion” and “limited opportunities to communicate, move and perform comprehensive maintenance and repair work”.
European nuclear safety regulator warn On March 6, regarding “fragility of on-site power supply, only one supply line out of three available and backup diesel sources had sufficient fuel supply for only 48 hours”.
condition deterioration On March 9, the 750 kV high-voltage line in the area was cut off, completely disconnecting the area from the grid. On-site emergency diesel generators were activated “to power systems important to safety”.
energy atom Say The outage left “the facility’s nuclear and radiation safety parameters uncontrollable,” adding that repairs to restore power to the area were currently not possible due to “combat operations in the area.”
arguing
Whether the spent fuel at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is at risk from power loss is up for debate.energy atom Say About 20,000 spent fuel assemblies at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant were unable to keep cool during a power outage, with warnings of releasing radioactive material into the environment.
The IAEA doesn’t care much, Say Due to the low heat load and the large amount of cooling water, it deemed “no significant impact on safety”.
International Atomic Energy Agency Say March 10: “If emergency power is also lost, regulators say they can still have crews monitor the level and temperature of the spent fuel pool. But they will do so under deteriorating radiation safety conditions because the facility lacks ventilation .They also fail to follow operational radiation safety procedures.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba Say Russia must abide by a temporary ceasefire before repairs can be made to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. March 11 report suggests off-site power may have been restored to Chernobyl – IAEA seek confirmation.
radioactive
Russian missile hit radioactive waste storage site Near Kyiv on February 27.
International Atomic Energy Agency Say In the March 1 update: “SNRIU said all radioactive waste disposal facilities at the National Radon Specialist Enterprise are operating as usual and radiation monitoring systems have not shown any deviations from normal values.
“On February 27, the SNRIU informed the IAEA that missiles hit the site of such a facility in the capital, Kyiv, but there was no damage to the building and no reports of radioactive releases.”
Kyiv radioactive waste storage Place Appears to be at least 1 km away from any other human structures, suggesting a possible deliberate attack.
Also on February 27, a power transformer damaged There were also no reports of any radioactive releases at a radioactive waste storage site in Kharkiv. According to SNRIU, research reactor This site has been shut down.
Kyiv and Kharkov facilities typically house disused radioactive sources and other low-level waste from hospitals and industry, IAEA Say, but does not contain high-level nuclear waste. However, the Kharkiv site may also store spent nuclear fuel from research reactors.
facility
An oncology center in Kharkiv is destruction Russian shelling, jeopardizing the safety and security of high-level radiation sources.
SNRIU Say On March 6, in the eastern port city of Mariupol, including its tumor center, there was no contact with enterprises and institutions using radiation sources of Category 1-3, and the safety and security of radiation sources could not be confirmed. The IAEA may cause serious injury to persons if such materials are not properly protected and managed famous.
SNRIU report that one’Neutron source– On March 6, at the Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology, a subcritical assembly with 37 nuclear fuel elements controlled by a linear electron accelerator was shelled.
European nuclear safety regulator Say In a March 6 statement, it was “very concerned about the safety of several research reactors and sites with high radioactive sources”.
this author
Dr. Jim Green is a national nuclear activist Friends of the Earth Australia. Ukrainian nuclear threat update published by Friends of the Earth, here.
