Chernobyl is off the grid
Chernobyl is off the grid. Ukraine’s Chernobyl nuclear power plant has been disconnected from the electricity grid. This was announced by Ukrenergo, Ukraine’s energy operator, and Energoatom, the state-run nuclear company.
Chernobyl was the site of the worst nuclear disaster in 1986. It is no longer an operational power plant and it does not handle any nuclear material. The facility however is home to decommissioned reactors and radioactive wastes.
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said that the loss of power has “no critical impact” on the plant’s safety.
“Specifically, regarding the site’s spent fuel storage facility, the volume of cooling water in the pool is sufficient to maintain effective heat removal from the spent fuel without a supply of electricity. The site also has reserve emergency power supplies with diesel generators and batteries,” IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said in a statement.
However, the lack of power “is likely to lead to a further deterioration of operational radiation safety at the site,” Grossi said.
A possible leak
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba however suggests in a tweet that there could be a leak.
“Reserve diesel generators have a 48-hour capacity to power the Chornobyl NPP. After that, cooling systems of the storage facility for spent nuclear fuel will stop, making radiation leaks imminent,” Kuleba said.
IAEA has also raised concerns regarding the staff of Chernobyl that is currently under Russian control.
“From day today, we are seeing a worsening situation at the Chornobyl NPP, especially for radiation safety, and for the staff managing the facility under extremely difficult and challenging circumstances,” Grossi said. “I repeat my urgent appeal to the forces in effective control of the plant to respect internal radiation protection procedures, to facilitate the safe rotation of staff, and to take other important steps to ensure safety.”
Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, Zaporizhzhya is also currently under Russian control. At moment, radiation levels appear normal. The plant was previously reported to have caught fire that could have caused the cooling system to fail. It was close to having a nuclear meltdown.