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LAST UPDATE | 9 Mar 2022
POWER HAS BEEN cut to the Chernobyl power plant, the site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster, Ukraine said today, but the UN’s atomic watchdog said there was “no critical impact on safety”.
The plant “was fully disconnected from the power grid,” Ukraine’s energy operator Ukrenergo said in a statement on its Facebook page, adding that military operations meant “there is no possibility to restore the lines”.
It said that there was also no power to the site’s security systems.
On February 24, Russia invaded Ukraine and seized the defunct plant, site of a 1986 disaster that killed hundreds and spread radioactive contamination west across Europe.
The UN atomic watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in a tweet that while the development “violates (a) key safety pillar”, in this case it saw “no critical impact on safety”.
Yesterday, the IAEA had said that the site was no longer transmitting data and voiced concern for staff working under Russian guard.
The situation for the staff “was worsening”, the IAEA said, citing the Ukrainian nuclear regulator.
The defunct plant sits inside an exclusion zone that houses decommissioned reactors as well as radioactive waste facilities.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted today that “reserve diesel generators have a 48-hour capacity to power” the plant but added that “after that, cooling systems of the storage facility for spent nuclear fuel will stop”.
Experts on nuclear power have said that there is not an immediate danger of a radioactive leak but urged caution. Director of Nuclear Power Safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists said there is not an imminent danger.
As previously discussed, this could potentially result in a serious condition in the ISF-1 spent nuclear fuel pool if backup power is lost. However, because the spent fuel has cooled for a couple of decades there would be many days to intervene before the spent fuel was exposed. https://t.co/B6TbmKXggH
— Edwin Lyman (@NucSafetyUCS) March 9, 2022
Lyman added: “Hydrogen resulting from radiolysis will also accumulate at the ISF-1 spent pool at #Chernobyl when power is lost because the hydrogen removal system cannot function. It’s unclear to me from the stress test results whether or not a hydrogen explosion is credible.”
More than 2,000 staff still work at the plant as it requires constant management to prevent another nuclear disaster.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi called “on the forces in effective control of the site to urgently facilitate the safe rotation of personnel there”.
He also repeated his offer to travel to Chernobyl or elsewhere to secure “the commitment to the safety and security” of Ukraine’s power plants from all parties.
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As if things weren’t bad enough.
It’s getting closer to the time for the Russian people to step up to their responsibilities as humans, and make Mr Putin a nice hot cup of tea.
@Fachtna Roe: as long as he’s not Ras-Putin – even the poison in the wine wouldn’t finish him in that case…
@Fachtna Roe: Most of the Russian population are brainwashed by propaganda state tv. They won’t see any news like this. Many still believe that the Russian army are liberating Ukraine.
@Dave Johnston: Of course most aren’t aware of what’s going on. But it’s not most Russians who are around him.
What an absolute anti-human that man is.
But but but NATO guys
@Pól Ó’hAodha: literally all Nato’s fa ult, Putin is just an innocent bystander, he is just misunderstood!
So the UN IAEA says the power cut presents no imminent danger. But Ukraine’s foreign minister says leaks of radiation are imminent.
I’m not sure what qualifications this minister has but I’m inclined to go by what the IAEA says.
This is just one example of misleading and clearly false information. It is impossible to know what is happening over there. Are they being as successful at holding off the Russians as they claim? And their statistics of success in defeating Russian soldiers, equipment etc. Pictures of absolutely shattered towns, villages and buildings on the news every hour would make you wonder.
@WadeBoggs: the first casualty of war is the truth. Both sides will use propaganda, disinformation and Selective facts to further their own ends.
When opposing factions are willing to kill each other, the fact that they might tell porkies and exaggerate a tad should not be a shocker really…
@Lee King Buckett: It’s no surprise to me at all. I see the title of this article has changed since first posted also.
@WadeBoggs: in his full tweet the minister actually said that there is a back up generator which will work for 48hra and AFTER that the possibility of a leak is imminent should workers not being allowed access to repair the grid. They just didn’t give the full info in this article which makes it looks bad for the Ukrainian minister
Yes, exactly. They only observed that it’s not an immediate threat. It’s not at all reassuring to hear that instead of 48 hours, we have a few days left before the site starts sizzling.
@WadeBoggs: More than a week after its safe capture, Chernobyl is being blown up by bored Russian army.
Its disconnected due to the damage caused by the occupiers. As a result, the Chernobyl station and all nuclear facilities in the Exclusion Zone are without electricity. 20,000 spent fuel assemblies are stored in the spent nuclear fuel storage facility-1. They need constant cooling. If it is not there, the pumps will not cool. As a result, the temperature in the holding pools will increase.
After that evaporation will occur, that will lead to nuclear discharge. The wind can transfer the radioactive cloud to other regions of Ukraine, Belarus, Russia and Europe. In addition, there is no ventilation inside the facility. All personnel there will receive a dangerous dose of radiation. The fire extinguishing system also does not work, and this is a huge risk of fire caused by shelling.
And yes the Ukraine’s foreign minister says reserve diesel generators at Chernobyl can provide power for 48 hours, after which cooling systems would totally stop. There’s approximately 12 hours gone off that at this stage, so power needs to be restored by tomorrow night (Thursday).
have your say