updates
After Russian attack
Zaporizhia nuclear plant goes into emergency operation
03/09/2023, 07:40 am
The Ukrainian energy minister speaks of a “barbaric, massive attack”: In addition to rocket attacks in some major Ukrainian cities, the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant is once again disconnected from the regular power supply. The emergency diesel generators have fuel for ten days.
As a result of a large-scale Russian missile attack, the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant has been cut off from the regular power supply, according to the Ukrainian operator. The plant in the southern city of Enerhodar, occupied by Russian troops, is being supplied with emergency diesel generators, Enerhoatom said on Telegram. The fuel is enough for ten days.
It is the sixth time since the start of the Russian war of aggression more than a year ago that the nuclear power plant has had to go into emergency operation, it said. Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko spoke on Facebook of a “barbaric, massive attack” by the Russians.
A spokesman for the Russian nuclear power plant operator Rosenergoatom confirmed the disconnection from the regular power grid to the Interfax agency. At the same time, he accused the Ukrainian side of cutting off supplies for no apparent reason.
Almost two weeks earlier, artillery fire near the nuclear power plant had alerted the local experts of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Because of the attacks was then according to the IAEA the emergency power line was temporarily switched off. The supply of electricity is essential for a nuclear power plant, among other things for cooling the nuclear material.
Failure of emergency power generators could bring about Fukushima scenario
Expert Anna Veronika Wendland warned in an interview with ntv.de last year: “The worst scenario that seems realistic is the cutoff from the power supply. If all three emergency diesel generators in a block then failed and the units in the neighboring blocks didn’t help out or if the backup diesels ran out of fuel, at the end of this chain of events we would have a Fukushima-like scenario. At Fukushima, the backup power supply failed because diesel generators and switchgear were flooded by a tsunami. There was a total blackout and the plants could not can no longer be cooled. So if everything fails in the end, we have a Fukushima case.”
In addition to Zaporizhia, other parts of the country have also been hit with rockets since the early hours of the morning, including the capital Kiev. The Odessa and Kharkiv regions also reported attacks on power plants and consequent power outages.