Rafael Mariano Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), announced that IAEA experts under his leadership would immediately travel to Ukraine and support the work of Ukrainian technicians with equipment and expertise.
The Atomic Energy Agency recently said that of the 15 reactors in the country at four locations, seven are in operation, including two in the Russian-controlled Zaporizhia reactor, three in Rivne and two in southern Ukraine. The other reactors had been shut down for maintenance work, including both reactors at the Khemelnytskyi power plant. The Handelsblatt gives one Overview of the current situation:
In Ukraine, more than 50 percent of the electricity required in the country is produced with nuclear power. The complex in Zaporizhia in the southeast of the country is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. There are six pressurized water reactors of Russian design that went into operation between 1985 and 1996.
Top jobs of the day
Find the best jobs now and
be notified by email.
About 250 kilometers to the west is the Yuzhnoukrainsk nuclear power plant with three reactors, also of Russian design. They were commissioned in 1983, 1985 and 1989.
The Rivne power plant is located in the northwest on the border with Belarus. There are four reactors there, including the youngest Ukrainian reactor block from 2006. West of Kyiv is the Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plant with two reactors.
>> Also read here: Satellite image to show mass grave – Ukraine accuses Russia of massacres of civilians
In addition, not far from the Belarusian border, there are the three decommissioned units at the Chernobyl site and Unit 4, which was destroyed in 1986. The site also contains wet and dry storage for spent fuel elements from the operation of the Chernobyl power plant, as well as storage and processing facilities for liquid and solid radioactive waste.
Who is in charge of the nuclear power plants?
Zaporizhia is under the control of Russian forces. According to the findings of the Society for Plant and Reactor Safety (GRS) in Cologne, this means that the Russian troops control access to the nuclear power plant. “As far as we know, the Russians do not interfere in the ongoing operation of the power plants,” said the scientific and technical director Uwe Stoll the Handelsblatt.
Chernobyl seems to be back under Ukraine’s complete control. The IAEA announced that it had been informed by the Ukrainian side about the withdrawal of Russian troops. However, the Russian military is still on the site.
This image, taken from video released by the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant, shows a bright, flare-up object – possibly a Russian missile – impacting the site of the nuclear power plant in early March.
(Photo: dpa)
Harald Ebner, chairman of the Bundestag’s environment committee, is nevertheless concerned: “Even overworked staff poses risks,” the Greens politician told the Handelsblatt. “In Chernobyl, for example, there hasn’t been a shift change for almost two weeks.”
According to the IAEA, the last change of technical staff took place on 20/21. took place in March.
Yuzhnoukrainsk, Rivne and Khmelnytskyi were previously under Ukrainian control.
What other radioactive sources are there in Ukraine?
There is a nuclear research reactor in the capital, Kyiv. In Kharkiv there is a test facility for research purposes as well as medical and technical applications, which is considered rather uncritical. The radioactivity there is minimal, according to GRS.
>> Also read here: Expropriation not ruled out: Gazprom and Rosneft under surveillance
In addition, so-called radon storage facilities are operated in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Donetsk, Lviv and Odessa. In these storage facilities, low-level and medium-level radioactive waste from medicine, research and industry is temporarily stored. In the heavily contested city of Mariupol there is also an oncology center with various radiation sources.
What dangers are there?
Since the attack on Ukraine began on February 24, there have been repeated reports of combat operations involving nuclear facilities. According to the assessment of the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS), however, there is no acute risk of a release of radioactive substances. There is also no evidence that radioactive substances could have been released in Ukraine.
However, due to the war, information is difficult to verify. There is also less measurement data available in areas where hostilities have taken place. However, all available radiological measurements were within the normal range.
The data is thin, said Green politician Ebner. There are clear control gaps. “That’s not satisfactory for high-risk assets.”
Is the power supply secured?
As a rule, a nuclear power plant produces electricity, so it needs lines to export the electricity. If the power lines are damaged, the reactors can be shut down. The problem: Even a nuclear power plant that is shut down produces heat, so that it must continue to be actively cooled – albeit to a lesser extent than when it is operating at full power. Spent fuel elements that have to be constantly cooled with water are stored near Zaporizhia. If problems arise, the spent fuel rods could overheat after a short time.
If the external power grid fails, diesel generators ensure cooling. Diesel supplies for a few days are available at the sites to operate these generators. In the long term, either the external power supply needs to be restored or the diesel tanks need topping up. Michael Sailer, an expert on the safety of nuclear power plants, does not rule out a worst-case scenario. If the power supply collapses and the emergency power generators fail at the same time, a meltdown could hardly be stopped, he said in February.
So far, only Chernobyl has been completely cut off from the power supply at times. Since the fuel elements stored there have been stored there for more than 20 years, they hardly give off any heat, so there is no acute danger.
What potential impact could there be on Germany?
In the event of a release of radioactive substances, the effects on Germany would be minor, according to the BfS. In the past, the authority has already dealt with the question of what effects could be expected on Germany if radioactive substances were released in Ukrainian nuclear power plants. For this purpose, it was examined how radioactive substances would spread. Accordingly, over a year in the past, the air masses only moved to Germany on about 60 days a year.
Any emergency measures would probably be limited to agriculture and the marketing of agricultural products. “In most cases, the wind is such that any radioactivity would blow to the east,” said Florian Gering, head of the radiological emergency response department at the BfS. “Russia would be the first to be affected.”
Is a second Chernobyl looming?
Rather no. “The reactors are more modern, the safety mechanisms are significantly better,” said BfS department head Gering. “The dimensions of the Chernobyl accident would hardly be reached.” A residual risk remains: “Since there are several reactors at each site, there could theoretically be an emergency in several reactors in the worst case, which could release significant amounts of radioactive material. “
This is also how GRS Managing Director Stoll sees it: “A chain of extremely unfavorable circumstances would have to come together for appreciable amounts of radioactive material to firstly be released and secondly come to Western Europe.”
Green politician Ebner is not reassured: “The history of nuclear accidents teaches us one thing: Although people think they have considered everything and ruled out any risk, the previously unthinkable happened in both Chernobyl and Fukushima.”
The nuclear ruins in Fukushima – on March 11, 2011, the worst happened here.
(Photo: AP)
One point is of particular concern to him: “The risk of looting and the theft of nuclear material, which may even be used for dirty bombs,” said Ebner. “The IAEA does not have complete control over the whereabouts of highly radioactive material.”
Stoll also shares this concern: “In many countries, theft of radioactive material is the greatest radiological threat,” Stoll told the Handelsblatt. At the moment he also counts the Ukraine among them. In companies, laboratories and hospitals there are sources of radiation such as measuring devices that are sometimes taken out of ignorance and represent a major source of danger.
How is radiation monitored?
The BfS regularly checks the data from various measuring devices in Ukraine. However, according to the BfS, the availability of measurement data is reduced, especially in areas where hostilities have taken place. However, a basic overview is given. In addition to the measuring stations in Ukraine itself, measurement data from neighboring countries are also checked. In Germany, too, the BfS measures the natural radiation exposure.
What do environmental groups say?
The environmental organization Greenpeace has repeatedly expressed concern about the threat posed by the Russian military to the operation of Ukrainian nuclear power plants and other nuclear facilities. Greenpeace cites the decades-old Soviet construction and age-related wear and tear as the reason. The original technical service life of the reactors has long expired.
Important agreed upgrades, for example the emergency power supply or filter systems that are intended to retain radioactivity, have not yet been fully implemented. “The combination of old reactor technology, safety measures that have not been implemented and military fighting around the nuclear facilities puts the operating team under enormous stress,” says Heinz Smital, Greenpeace’s nuclear expert. “This is a highly dangerous mixture that can easily lead to serious reactor accidents.”
More: Futurist Jeremy Rifkin: ‘This will be the last fossil fuel war’