Actions of Russian invaders caused a complete disconnection of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant from Ukraine’s power grid – the first in the history of the plant, according to Ukrinform.
The State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine published a forecast of the consequences of a potential accident for power unit No. 6 of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant according to the conditional scenario of “complete loss of power supply with the destruction of the protective shell” until August 31.
The State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine reported that “According to the information provided by SE NEGC Energoatom, an operating organization, as of August 25, 2022 at 12:12, as a result of hostilities near the Zaporizhzhia NPP, the 750 kV ‘Dniprovska’ overhead line was disconnected,” the report reads.
As a result, power unit No. 5 of the ZNPP was disconnected from the network, with the further activation of emergency protection; power unit No. 6 of the ZNPP was transferred “to supply its own needs”.
The regulator adds that at 12:29, after the resumption of the operational capacity of the 750 kV ‘Dniprovska’ overhead line, power unit No. 6 of the ZNPP was connected to the network.
However, at 14:14, the 750 kV ‘Dniprovska’ overhead line was disconnected again.
As a result, power unit No. 6 of the ZNPP was disconnected from the network, with “the subsequent tripping of the emergency protection”.
According to Energoatom, thus, the actions of the invaders caused a complete disconnection of the ZNPP from Ukraine’s power grid – the first in the history of the plant.
“The NPP’s own needs for power supply are currently provided from the energy system of Ukraine through the communication line of the Zaporizhzhia NPP – Zaporizhzhia TPP,” the report says.
Latest UK Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine evaluates the existing risks: “While Russia maintains the military occupation of ZNPP, the principal risks to reactor operations are likely to remain disruption to the reactors’ cooling systems, damage to its back-up power supply, or errors by workers operating under pressure.”
Russian security forces are torturing personnel at the occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant to prevent them from telling UN inspectors about safety risks, workers there have told The Telegraph. Residents of occupied Enerhodar where Zaporizhzhia NPP is located recorded an anonymous video, also telling about Russian behavior and occupation.
António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, said: “I remain gravely concerned about the situation in and around the Nuclear Power Plant in Zaporizhzhia. Any further escalation of the situation could lead to self-destruction. The UN Secretariat is ready to support any IAEA mission from Kyiv to the Plant.”
“Almost every day there is a new incident at or near the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant. We can’t afford to lose any more time. I’m determined to personally lead an IAEA mission to the plant in the next few days to help stabilise the nuclear safety and security situation there,” Director General Grossi said. IAEA mission is already on its way to Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.
Russia should agree to a demilitarized zone around Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, which has been in Russian hands since March, White House says.
As the media report, Ukraine has warned earlier that Russia was planning to disconnect the plant in a potentially risky effort to divert it to the Russian grid.
State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized that the Russian Federation has put the world on the brink of a radiation disaster, as the Russian troops have made the territory of the ZNPP – the largest nuclear power plant in Europe – a combat zone.
Zelenskyy: “Because of Russia’s armed provocations, because of shelling, because of the deployment of terrorists under the Russian flag on the territory of the plant. Now all of Europe and all neighboring regions are under the threat of radiation pollution,” he said. The President insists that the IAEA mission must take permanent control of the situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant as soon as possible, and Russia must unconditionally stop nuclear blackmail and completely leave the plant.
“The situation in Zaporizhia is extremely dangerous. I’m receiving reports of flames seen in the forest near the NPP. We still have to look into this issue in more detail, but the facts are simple: Ukraine has been a loyal partner of the IAEA throughout the 30 years of independence; we’ve followed all nuclear safety rules and protocols, everything’s been great,” stated the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba.
Zaporizhzhia local authorities held a meeting regarding evacuation preparations in case of an accident at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
Oleh Savitskyi, a board member of the non-governmental organization in Ukraine, believes that “The radiation hazard is the main problem and not from the reactors themselves. The highest risk I see in this military situation is the spent nuclear fuel. There is a huge storage of spent nuclear fuel which is just in big concrete containers standing in the open. If there is an attack, accidental or intended, on those containers with spent nuclear fuel, it can be an extremely big emission of radioactive material.”
Many experts are concerned about the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant crisis. Does the Ukrainian government have a plan to deal with these matters in case of any significant accident at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant?
In Zaporizhzhia, 69 settlements are subject to evacuation in case of an accident. The local authorities of the Zaporizhzhia region have two plans for evacuating the population in the event of an accident at the nuclear power plant – during peacetime and for military aggression conditions. New York Times confirmed that Ukrainian officials have rushed to hand out potassium iodide to tens of thousands of people living near the plant. The drug can protect people from radiation-induced thyroid cancer.
As Forbes reports, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant is not only Europe’s biggest, but among the 10 largest power plants in the world, built by the Soviet Union, which started construction in 1984.