Ukrainian authorities report the power has been knocked out at the Chernobyl nuclear site in the aftermath of Russia’s risky bombing and takeover of the facility.
The abandoned facility, now under Russian control, is located 10 miles northwest of the city of Chernobyl and about 62 miles north of Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital city. The Ukrainian government said safety is a top concern as emergency generators have kept the radioactive material at the site cooled.
Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba tweeted Wednesday, “The only electrical grid supplying the Chornobyl NPP and all its nuclear facilities occupied by Russian army is damaged. CNPP lost all electric supply. I call on the international community to urgently demand Russia to cease fire and allow repair units to restore power supply 1/2.”
The only electrical grid supplying the Chornobyl NPP and all its nuclear facilities occupied by Russian army is damaged. CNPP lost all electric supply. I call on the international community to urgently demand Russia to cease fire and allow repair units to restore power supply 1/2
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) March 9, 2022
In a follow-up tweet, Kuleba warned that the facility’s diesel backup generators could only power the plant for 48 hours.
“Reserve diesel generators have a 48-hour capacity to power the Chornobyl NPP,” he wrote. “After that, cooling systems of the storage facility for spent nuclear fuel will stop, making radiation leaks imminent. Putin’s barbaric war puts entire Europe in danger. He must stop it immediately! 2/2”
Reserve diesel generators have a 48-hour capacity to power the Chornobyl NPP. After that, cooling systems of the storage facility for spent nuclear fuel will stop, making radiation leaks imminent. Putin’s barbaric war puts entire Europe in danger. He must stop it immediately! 2/2
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) March 9, 2022
The Wall Street Journal reports without power, the 20,000 spent-fuel assemblies stored there are at risk of overheating if the coolant evaporates.
The Ukrainian government warned if the coolant evaporates, a nuclear discharge could occur in the form of a radioactive cloud. The wind could then spread the contamination to other parts of Ukraine as well as parts of Belarus, Russia, and Europe.
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However, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a tweet Wednesday it sees no “critical impact on safety.”
“#Ukraine has informed IAEA of power loss at #Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant, @rafaelmgrossi says development violates key safety pillar on ensuring uninterrupted power supply; in this case IAEA sees no critical impact on safety,” the tweet read.
Mark Nelson with Chicago’s Radiant Energy Group, in a series of tweets on Wednesday said the spent rods at Chernobyl are at a minimum 22 years old, have very little heat to dissipate, and natural air circulation should be enough to cool them.
“WHAT SHOULD WE BE WATCHING FOR? There are indeed 20k old fuel rods in a pool. Their heat is low enough that experts I’ve talked to expect weeks or even months to heat the water enough to dry out the pool. Even then, natural air circulation should be sufficient,” he wrote.
WHAT SHOULD WE BE WATCHING FOR?
There are indeed 20k old fuel rods in a pool. Their heat is low enough that experts I’ve talked to expect weeks or even months to heat the water enough to dry out the pool. Even then, natural air circulation should be sufficient.
— Mark Nelson (@energybants) March 9, 2022
In an earlier tweet, Bants reassured his followers, writing, “EVERYTHING at Chernobyl, which stopped making electricity in 1999, will be SLOW to happen. This means problems are headaches for staff when normal work routines resume after the war, NOT catastrophes. Chernobyl is in headlines because of its infamy, not its danger to the public.”
Reactor No. 4 at Chernobyl was the site of the world’s largest nuclear disaster in 1986, and the power plant is now within a restricted area known as the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.
The plant was shut down in 2000, but the deserted site still stores spent nuclear fuel from Chernobyl and other nuclear plants around Ukraine. All electricity to the zone was knocked out due to a powerline being cut during the Russian military’s advance.
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