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Europethe largest nuclear reactor in has become a battlefield In ukraineDefense against Russian invaders as they risk a devastating meltdown in efforts to annex it moscowNational Grid of.
Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant (ZNPP), consisting of six reactors, was quickly captured by Russian troops in attack on ukraine In 2022. Since then it has remained a dangerous potential flashpoint for nuclear disaster.
Fighting and bombardment from both sides of the complex and the power station, which is completely occupied by Russian forces who station troops in its buildings, have forced the reactors to “cold shut down”.
This means that its nuclear material is not used to generate electricity but instead requires constant cooling.
The fighting cut off electricity from Ukraine, meaning the cooling system had to rely entirely on diesel generators and a skeleton crew for a month.
Regular power was restored only in the last week, after the longest period in which the ZNPP was cut off from power to run its cooling systems.
Russia The Ukrainian power link needs to be cut in order to establish its connection to the Russian network – a long-stated ambition.
“The Russian Federation is laying its power line, but parts of it have been successfully damaged by Ukraine,” said Mykhailo Shuster, a nuclear expert and former director of procurement at Energoatom – Ukraine’s nuclear energy agency.
“Russia is now on a high level of preparedness, and to add to this, electricity supplies from Ukraine should be disrupted.”
It is unclear whether Russia will be able to connect the Ukrainian plant to its network during the 30-day outage. If it did so, it would have to install converter stations to synchronize the two grids.
But power outages to cooling systems and almost no water supplies there are causing panic among local leaders after Russia blew up the Kakhova Dam, the main water source for the ZNPP.
The exiled mayor of Enrhodar, a city next to Zaporozhye, said Independent They fear that nuclear pollution could leach into the groundwater surrounding the plant, polluting the Dnipro River and eventually the Black Sea.
“The Kakhovka Dam is destroyed; there is nothing to cool it – even if they miraculously restore the equipment in the future,” he said.
“Worst-case scenario: The water will eventually evaporate from the cooling pond, and there will be nothing to cool the nuclear fuel.”
“It could melt the concrete and get into the groundwater,” Dmytro Orlov said from his office in Zaporizhia. Mayor Orlov runs humanitarian programs for the thousands of people, mostly nuclear energy workers, who have fled their city to safety due to the advancing Russians.
Mayor recalls 1986 chernobyl disasterWhich remains the worst nuclear disaster in history.
“The estimated amount of nuclear fuel there is about 10 times greater than at Chernobyl,” he warned.
A small team of inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Authority regularly inspect the power station and report on military training and explosions in and around the facility.
Russian artillery and mortars were seen shelling and bombarding Ukrainian towns and villages on the opposite bank of the Dnipro.
After power was restored, IAEA Director-General Mario Grossi said: “What was once virtually unimaginable – a nuclear power plant regularly losing power off-site – has unfortunately become a common occurrence during this devastating war. However, this was the most challenging power event ever experienced.
“There is still much work to be done to further reduce the risks of a nuclear accident.”