Lines damaged in battle
Chernobyl nuclear ruin no longer has electricity
3/9/2022 1:36 p.m
The Russian army captures the Chernobyl nuclear ruins on the first day of their invasion of Ukraine. Since then, 210 technicians and local security staff have been on duty non-stop to secure the site. In new battles, the power supply now apparently breaks off.
The former Ukrainian nuclear power plant Chernobyl was cut off from the power supply about two weeks after it was taken by Russian units. The Ukrainian grid operator Ukrenerho announced that power lines had been damaged by the shelling. Combat operations north of Kyiv currently prevented all repair work.
The Russian army had captured the terrain in northern Ukraine on the first day of its invasion. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had already complained on Tuesday that “the remote data transmission of the monitoring systems installed in the Chernobyl nuclear power plant has failed”. The monitoring systems are intended to determine whether radioactive material is escaping in the nuclear ruins.
According to the IAEA, 210 technicians and local security personnel have been on duty for almost two weeks without a break because there were no more shift changes under Russian control. Although they have water and food, their situation is getting worse and worse. Typically, more than 2,000 people work in rotating shifts in the restricted area.
A devastating accident happened in Chernobyl in 1986, killing hundreds and spreading radioactive material across Europe. The power plant has since been shut down, and a huge protective shell is designed to prevent the escape of radioactivity. Radioactive waste is still stored there today.