Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant ‘Totally Disconnected’ From Ukraine’s Electricity Grid: What Does That Mean? | Abroad

“The two reactors that were still in operation have been disconnected,” Energoatom said on Telegram. “As a result, the actions of the invaders have resulted in the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant being completely disconnected from the power grid for the first time in its history.”

The Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant has been in Russian hands for a few months, but is still operated by Ukrainian personnel under the leadership of the occupiers. It is the largest in Europe and supplies energy for 4 million households, according to Energoatom. In addition to a power shortage, the disconnection from the Ukrainian electricity grid could have other far-reaching consequences.

For example, Russia might want to connect the nuclear power plant to the Russian grid, but during such a switch, the plant depends on only one electricity source to pump water around to cool the reactors. “You can’t switch from one system to another right away,” said Petro Kotin, the head of Ukraine’s nuclear energy company Energoatom.

The British newspaper The Guardian yesterday announced a detailed Russian plan to disconnect the nuclear power plant from the Ukrainian electricity grid. “The condition of the plan was that there would be severe damage to all lines connecting the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant to the Ukrainian network,” Kotin said. He warned that the Russian military would sabotage the connections in order to carry out the emergency scenario.

If that electricity source were to fail and the cooling would fail, this could lead to a meltdown after an hour and a half. That is also what happened at the nuclear power plant in Fukushima after a power outage due to a tsunami. But a meltdown doesn’t automatically release large amounts of radioactive material, nuclear experts reported earlier in a safety risk analysis by the science journal. Nature. What impact such a scenario would have on the immediate and further environment is unclear.

The Belgian emeritus professor of radiation protection Gilbert Eggermont also previously expressed his concern about the fight over the nuclear power plant. “It is the largest nuclear power plant park in Europe. The danger is that at some point all reactors will fail, jeopardizing emergency cooling,” says Eggermont. If that happens, the plant could overheat.

Under normal circumstances, flow from outside can keep the reactors cool at all times. ,,But you are in a war situation here, I can imagine that that is not so obvious. If the cooling should nevertheless fail, the reactor could melt. Things like that can escalate quickly, you saw that in Fukushima as well. There the problems jumped from one reactor to another. That could lead to the release of radioactivity in the immediate vicinity.”

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is therefore calling for a visit. Both Russia and Ukraine reaffirmed their intention to allow inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency IAEA access to Zaporizhzhya, but due to ongoing disagreements over travel conditions, the mission is not yet underway.