Russian and Ukrainian troops are also fighting near the former Chernobyl nuclear power plant, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday.
(Photo: dpa)
Dusseldorf The former nuclear power plant Chernobyl in Ukraine has had no electricity since Wednesday. The Ukrainian grid operator Ukrenerho announced on Wednesday that power lines had been damaged by shelling. Because the fighting north of Kyiv continues, repair work is currently not possible.
“This is a critical situation,” said nuclear expert Heinz Smital of Greenpeace. A secure power supply is important for nuclear power plants so that temperature, neutron flux and other fundamental data can be constantly monitored. Even the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has no insight into what is happening around the reactor without electricity. Normally, the supervisory authority always has the opportunity to observe the situation on site, at least virtually, via a camera.
However, after the power failure became known, the IAEA announced that it did not assume a security risk. The cooling ponds filled with water provided enough cooling for old fuel elements even without electricity, the authority said.
Weeks ago, the IAEA experts complained that the former nuclear power plant was increasingly cut off from the outside world. After the reactor accident in 1986, individual plants were still in operation until the early 2000s. Although the nuclear power plant has been shut down since then, it requires round-the-clock monitoring.
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“By now, most of the fuel assemblies should have cooled down, but most of them are still in wet storage,” explains Smital. The water is used to cool the nuclear fuel rods. Unlike the accident in Fukushima, the team in Chernobyl have several days and even weeks to take countermeasures, “but this is a very complex system”.
In addition, the Ukrainian team has been under constant stress for two weeks. According to the authority, 210 technicians and local security personnel have been on duty for almost two weeks without interruption because there were no more shift changes under Russian control. They have water and food, but their situation is getting worse and worse.
Chernobyl: There could be radioactive releases
In addition, the IAEA is no longer connected to its surveillance equipment, which ensures that all nuclear material is in place. “It cannot be ruled out that there will be radioactive releases,” warns Smital. Therefore, massive pressure must be exerted to give the Ukrainian nuclear regulator and the IAEA access to the power plant again in order to get an overview and prevent worse things from happening.
A devastating nuclear accident happened in Chernobyl in 1986. Radioactive waste is still stored there today. So far, an active nuclear power plant in Zaporizhia and some other facilities with stockpiles of nuclear material have been affected by the Russian invasion. So far, however, no radioactive material has escaped.
More: Horror after attack on nuclear power plants in Ukraine: What dangers does the war pose?
