Headline Roundup • March 9th, 2022
Chernobyl Nuclear Plant Loses Power
Summary from the AllSides News Team
According to the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine, the Chernobyl nuclear site has lost power.
Emergency diesel generators will provide power to critical safety systems at the site for up to 48 hours, but at present, repair to the transmission lines is not possible due to continued combat operations in the area. There are approximately 20,000 spent fuel assemblies at Chernobyl that require constant cooling, which is provided by electricity. The fear is that the temperature in the holding pools will increase, prompting the release of radioactive substances into the environment. The International Atomic Energy Association, however, says there is no critical impact on safety, and that the amount of cooling water at Chernobyl is "sufficient for effective heat removal without need for electrical supply."
Russian forces seized the Chernobyl site on February 24, and captured Zaporizhzhia, Europe's biggest nuclear plant, on March 4.
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GENYA SAVILOV/AFP/GETTY
The power supply was cut to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant on Wednesday, Ukrainian authorities said, blaming Russia's invading forces for the blackout and warning that it could lead to "nuclear discharge."
The U.N.-backed global nuclear watchdog agency, the IAEA, downplayed concerns of an imminent radioactive release, but a Ukrainian national emergency services agency said if power to the plant's cooling systems, which prevent spent nuclear fuel from evaporating, is not ensured, it could leave winds to blow a "radioactive cloud to other regions of Ukraine, Belarus, Russia and Europe."
The Chernobyl power plant,...
REUTERS/Gleb Garanich
The loss of power at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine does not have any critical impact on safety, the U.N. nuclear watchdog said in a statement on Wednesday.
"Heat load of spent fuel storage pool and volume of cooling water at Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant sufficient for effective heat removal without need for electrical supply," the IAEA said in a statement.
AP Photo/Mykola Tymchenko, File
The Chernobyl plant in Ukraine is disconnected from the grid due to damage inflicted by Russian occupying forces, sparking concerns of radioactive contamination if the cooling of spent nuclear fuel stops.
The 750 kV Chernobyl-Kyiv high-voltage line is currently disconnected "due to damage by the occupiers," Energoatom, or the state-run National Nuclear Energy Generating Company of Ukraine, said Wednesday. The Chernobyl station and all nuclear facilities of the Exclusion Zone are without electricity.
The regulator explained that there are about 20,000 spent fuel assemblies stored at the facility that require constant cooling. Without electricity...
