grow the concern among the international community for the potential risk for the nuclear safety in Chernobylafter the plant has been disconnected from the electrical network after the military actions of the Russian troops. This situation could cause the plant releases radioactive substancesgiven that cannot cool nuclear fuel spent, according to the Ukrainian state nuclear company Energoatom. However, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) argued yesterday that it does not see this lack of electricity supply as critical to safety.
The company has pointed out that the fighting between the troops has made immediate repair impossible of the plant’s high-voltage power line. In this context, Energoatom has pointed out that there were some 20,000 fuel elements spent on Chernobyl they couldn’t keep cold in the middle of a power outage.
If these items become hot, it could cause release of radioactive substances in the environment. “The radioactive cloud could be carried by the wind to other regions of Ukraine, Belarus, Russia and Europe“, the nuclear company pointed out in a statement, which added that without energy, the plant ventilation systems would not work eitherso the staff would be exposed to dangerous doses of radiation.
standby generators
In this context, the Foreign Minister of Ukraine Dmytro Kulebahas asked for a Stop the fire to repair the power line in Chernobyl and has warned that the diesel generators of reserve in the plant they only have 48 hour capacity. After that time, “the spent nuclear fuel storage facility’s cooling systems will stop, so the radiation leaks will be imminent“, has warned.
For its part, the Ukrainian operator Ukrenergo has also confirmed that the electrical power supply of the Chernobyl plant and its security teams is “totally” cut off for the actions of the Russian Army, which took control of the nuclear plant the same day that the invasion of Ukraine began, on February 24. “The place no longer has electricity. There is no possibility of restoring the lines” since the Russian offensive is ongoingexplained the Ukrainian operator.
Hours before this announcement, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)based in Vienna and belonging to the UN, pointed out that “the remote transmission of data from the safeguard monitoring systems” installed in Chernobyl had been arrested. The entity uses the term safeguard to refer to the technical measures it applies to nuclear material and activities to prevent the development of nuclear weapons.
“Nuclear Security Risk”
More of 200 technicians and guards is it so blocked on the spot and carry working 13 days in a row under Russian surveillance. In this situation, the IAEA asked Russia allow staff rotation because rest and regular work hours are crucial to site safety.
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“I’m very worried because of the difficult and stressful situation of the personnel at the Chernobyl nuclear plant and the potential nuclear security risk“he admitted Raphael Grossi, the director general of the UN nuclear agency. Thus, he reiterated his offer to travel to the site to ensure “commitment to safety” of the nuclear plants for all parties involved.
The chernobyl plant -located 93 kilometers from Kiev- was the scene of the worst nuclear accident in history the April 26, 1986, after the explosion of reactor 4 of the facility. The plant is located in an exclusion zone, includes out-of-service reactors and radioactive waste facilities.
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Eddie is an Australian news reporter with over 9 years in the industry and has published on Forbes and tech crunch.