Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has already changed not only two countries, but the whole world creating many nuclear risks. “Military operations of the Russian Armed Forces and the actual takeover of the nuclear power facilities in Ukraine are accompanied by failures of the radiation monitoring equipment, limiting the ability of nuclear installation operators to perform maintenance and repair works around the safety-critical systems (SCS), loss of communication and power supply channels, as well as emergency risks without timely response possibility due to the destroyed infrastructure and no access for specialized personnel. There are difficulties with spare part supplies for maintenance and repairs of the SCS, as well as with the engagement of contractors to perform maintenance and modernization. Ukraine calls on our international partners to do everything possible to prevent a global-scale nuclear disaster.”
Minister of Energy of Ukraine Herman Halushchenko, Acting Chairman of the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine Oleh Korikov, Acting President of “Energoatom” Petro Kotin addressed UN Secretary-General António Guterres, OSCE Secretary General Helga Maria Schmid asking to do everything possible to prevent a global nuclear disaster.
The appeal, in particular, outlined the critical situation at the occupied Chornobyl and Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plants and other nuclear power facilities and called for immediate, effective and decisive action by the UN, OSCE and IAEA to prevent an environmental disaster.
Ukraine insists on establishing a special UN mission to ensure the safety of nuclear facilities in Ukraine, including the Chornobyl NPP (Pripyat), Zaporizhia NPP (Energodar), South Ukraine NPP (Yuzhnoukrains’k), Rivne NPP (Varash) and Khmelnitsky NPP (Netishyn). This mission should include establishing the facts and documenting all criminal actions by the Russian military for future international trials.
The State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine reminds, that as a result of the military attack of the Russian Federation on Ukraine from the territory of the Republic of Belarus, starting at 05:00 on 24 February 2022, the world faces the new nuclear risks.
All facilities of the Chornobyl NPP located in the Exclusion Zone, such as ChNPP units 1-3 (at the decommissioning stage), spent nuclear fuel storage facilities (ISF-1, ISF-2), New Safe Confinement of the Shelter, facilities designed for radioactive waste management, continue to be under the control of the Russian military.
The Chornobyl NPP personnel courageously and heroically perform their functions without rotation to ensure the safe operation of these facilities since 24 February 2022. There is currently no corridor option to ensure a safe change of a shift of Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant operators. Mayor of Slavutych Yuriy Fomichov stated this during a news telethon, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. “Since February 24, the shift has not returned to Slavutych. They are there, at the facility, and there is no safe corridor for us to replace these people,” Fomichev said. According to the official, the shift divided into groups to ensure rest, but the inability to rotate workers remains a real threat to safety.
The operation of the automated radiation monitoring system of the Exclusion Zone has not been restored. Regulatory control over the state of nuclear and radiation safety of nuclear facilities and other facilities located at the Chornobyl site and in the Exclusion Zone is currently impossible to exercise.
Stationary and cellular telephone communication with the Chornobyl NPP personnel, which remains directly at the NPP, has not been restored. The loss of phone communication is a consequence of the military attack and seizure of the enterprise by the military troops of the Russian Federation.
According to the information received from the Chornobyl NPP personnel through available communication channels, safety parameters of the Chornobyl NPP facilities are still within the standard limits.
At the same time, according to the information available to the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine, several neutron flux sensors and sensors to monitor gamma radiation dose rate and radiation contamination in the air at the Shelter are out of order. This condition made it impossible to monitor the criticality and several radiation parameters in one of the Shelter premises. Due to the lack of a sufficient number of maintenance personnel and special equipment due to the occupation, the repair of damaged equipment of the systems important to nuclear and radiation safety is not performed.
Safety parameters data indicate a deteriorating trend in a number of indicators; in particular, it is a concentration of long-lived radionuclides in the atmosphere. The occupier seriously violates the radiation safety requirements and strict access control procedure at the enterprise and in the Exclusion Zone. The aggressor neglects the requirements for the mandatory use of airlocks, changing of clothing and footwear when visiting “dirty” areas of the enterprise, decontamination, undertakes uncontrolled movement of military personnel and military equipment at the enterprise, in the Exclusion Zone and beyond its boundaries. This, in turn, leads to deterioration of the radiation situation at the facility and in the Exclusion Zone, as well as contributes to the spread of radioactive contamination outside the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone.
The State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine continues monitoring the Chornobyl NPP facilities and analyzing data obtained from available information sources.
The presence of Russian troops at the Zaporizhzhia NPP and heavy equipment close to the NPP and in Enerhodar, creates psychological pressure on both NPP personnel and the public after the Zaporizhzhia NPP was attacked earlier. There was damage to the compartment of reactor No. 1, but it does not affect the safety of the power unit, the regional military administration said in a statement. Another sourse reported now that “any actions to operate the station are required to be coordinated with a Russian officer in advance.”
It is estimated that Russia and other countries will suffer as much as Ukraine in the case of a nuclear accident. The Russian military created many risks (also nuclear) for the whole country and Europe.
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