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'Insanity Not to Allow This': Calls for Ceasefire to Repair Chernobyl Power Supply
Ukraine's foreign minister said a ceasefire in the area would "allow repair crews to restore electricity supply"
Ukraine's foreign minister said a ceasefire in the area would "allow repair crews to restore electricity supply"
to the Chernobyl plant "as soon as possible."
A picture taken on April 13, 2021 shows the giant protective dome built over the sarcophagus covering the destroyed fourth reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant ahead of the upcoming 35th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
A picture taken on April 13, 2021 shows the giant protective dome built over the sarcophagus covering the destroyed fourth reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant ahead of the upcoming 35th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
(Photo: Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images)
JAKE JOHNSON
JAKE JOHNSON
COMMON DREAMS
Energoatom, Ukraine's national nuclear energy firm, cautioned Wednesday that without adequate electricity, "the temperature in the [spent fuel] holding pools will increase" and "release of radioactive substances into the environment may occur."
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the Ukrainian president, characterized the state of the Chernobyl plant as "an extremely dangerous situation."
In a social media post, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) wrote that Wednesday's development "violates a key safety pillar on ensuring uninterrupted power supply" to the Chernobyl plant.
But the agency added that it "sees no critical impact on safety at the moment," explaining that the heat load of the spent fuel storage pool and the "volume of cooling water" at the facility are "sufficient for effective heat removal without the need for electrical supply."
Russian military forces quickly seized control of the Chernobyl plant, the site of the 1986 nuclear catastrophe, soon after they invaded Ukraine late last month, heightening fears of a nuclear disaster stemming from possible damage to the facility.
In a pair of tweets Wednesday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called for an immediate ceasefire in the area to "allow repair crews to restore electricity supply" to the Chernobyl plant "as soon as possible."
"Spare diesel generators will power the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and its facilities for 48 hours," Kuleba wrote. "Then the cooling system of the spent nuclear fuel storage will be shut down, which will threaten the leakage of radiation. Russia's barbaric war threatens the whole of Europe. Putin must stop it immediately."
The advocacy group Beyond Nuclear said it would be "insanity not to allow this," referring to necessary repairs to the Chernobyl power supply.
"The fighting must stop," the group added. "Everyone will be affected."
March 9, 2022
This is a developing news story... Check back for possible updates...
Ukrainian authorities warned Wednesday that radioactive material could leak into the atmosphere after the decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear plant was reportedly disconnected from the power grid by Russian forces, raising the risk that spent nuclear fuel stored at the site may not cool properly.
"Because of military actions of Russian occupiers, the nuclear power plant in Chernobyl was fully disconnected from the power grid," Ukrenergo, Ukraine's state-owned power grid operator, said in a statement.
Ukrenergo added in a Facebook post that emergency diesel generators have been activated in response to the electricity shut-off, but noted the fuel would last for just 48 hours.
This is a developing news story... Check back for possible updates...
Ukrainian authorities warned Wednesday that radioactive material could leak into the atmosphere after the decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear plant was reportedly disconnected from the power grid by Russian forces, raising the risk that spent nuclear fuel stored at the site may not cool properly.
"Because of military actions of Russian occupiers, the nuclear power plant in Chernobyl was fully disconnected from the power grid," Ukrenergo, Ukraine's state-owned power grid operator, said in a statement.
Ukrenergo added in a Facebook post that emergency diesel generators have been activated in response to the electricity shut-off, but noted the fuel would last for just 48 hours.
Energoatom, Ukraine's national nuclear energy firm, cautioned Wednesday that without adequate electricity, "the temperature in the [spent fuel] holding pools will increase" and "release of radioactive substances into the environment may occur."
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the Ukrainian president, characterized the state of the Chernobyl plant as "an extremely dangerous situation."
In a social media post, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) wrote that Wednesday's development "violates a key safety pillar on ensuring uninterrupted power supply" to the Chernobyl plant.
But the agency added that it "sees no critical impact on safety at the moment," explaining that the heat load of the spent fuel storage pool and the "volume of cooling water" at the facility are "sufficient for effective heat removal without the need for electrical supply."
Russian military forces quickly seized control of the Chernobyl plant, the site of the 1986 nuclear catastrophe, soon after they invaded Ukraine late last month, heightening fears of a nuclear disaster stemming from possible damage to the facility.
In a pair of tweets Wednesday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called for an immediate ceasefire in the area to "allow repair crews to restore electricity supply" to the Chernobyl plant "as soon as possible."
"Spare diesel generators will power the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and its facilities for 48 hours," Kuleba wrote. "Then the cooling system of the spent nuclear fuel storage will be shut down, which will threaten the leakage of radiation. Russia's barbaric war threatens the whole of Europe. Putin must stop it immediately."
The advocacy group Beyond Nuclear said it would be "insanity not to allow this," referring to necessary repairs to the Chernobyl power supply.
"The fighting must stop," the group added. "Everyone will be affected."
Losing power means that systems in the Chernobyl plant that regulate radiation could fail and allow harmful radiation to escape into the atmosphere. Photo by Carl Montgomery/Wikimedia Commons
March 9 (UPI) -- Officials in Ukraine said Wednesday that Russian shelling has damaged a high-voltage power line to the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station, which is under Russian control, and that radiation could escape if it's not repaired soon.
Authorities said the damage to the power line was caused by the "occupiers" and urged Moscow to call a halt to the fighting in the area to fix it. The Chernobyl plant is located about 70 miles northwest of Kyiv.
Russian forces have slowly been making advances in some parts of Ukraine and none at all in other areas that are guarded by Ukrainian troops and civilians. A new cease-fire that began on Wednesday was called to allow thousands of Ukrainians to flee the fighting, but it doesn't offer the necessary protection to fix the Chernobyl power line.
Losing power means that systems in the plant that regulate radiation could fail and allow harmful radiation to escape into the atmosphere.
A sign near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine warns of possible radiation exposure stemming from the 1986 explosion at the facility, which partially melted the core in reactor No. 4.
File Photo by Sergey Starostenko/UPI
"About 20,000 spent fuel assemblies are stored in the spent nuclear fuel storage facility-1. They need constant cooling. Which is possible only if there is electricity," Ukraine's State Service of Special Communications said in a tweet Wednesday.
"If it is not there, the pumps will not cool. As a result, the temperature in the holding pools will increase. After that evaporation will occur, that will lead to nuclear discharge. The wind can transfer the radioactive cloud to other regions of Ukraine, Belarus, Russia and Europe. In addition, there is no ventilation inside the facility."
Officials also said that personnel at the plant will be exposed to a "dangerous dose of radiation."
Ukrainian officials said that there's also an increased risk of fire due to the outage, as extinguishing and suppression systems depend on electricity to function.
Making matters worse, officials said on Tuesday that systems that monitor nuclear waste at Chernobyl had stopped transmitting data.
"I'm deeply concerned about the difficult and stressful situation facing staff at the Chernobyl nuclear plant and the potential risks this entails for nuclear safety," Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said. "I call on the forces in effective control of the site to urgently facilitate the safe rotation of personnel there."
The IAEA said in a tweet earlier Tuesday, however, that it didn't foresee a "critical impact on safety" from the power outage.
More than 200 workers at the Chernobyl plant have been trapped there since the start of the war as no one is being allowed to replace them. The IAEA on Wednesday called on the international community to facilitate a staff rotation.
"About 20,000 spent fuel assemblies are stored in the spent nuclear fuel storage facility-1. They need constant cooling. Which is possible only if there is electricity," Ukraine's State Service of Special Communications said in a tweet Wednesday.
"If it is not there, the pumps will not cool. As a result, the temperature in the holding pools will increase. After that evaporation will occur, that will lead to nuclear discharge. The wind can transfer the radioactive cloud to other regions of Ukraine, Belarus, Russia and Europe. In addition, there is no ventilation inside the facility."
Officials also said that personnel at the plant will be exposed to a "dangerous dose of radiation."
Ukrainian officials said that there's also an increased risk of fire due to the outage, as extinguishing and suppression systems depend on electricity to function.
Making matters worse, officials said on Tuesday that systems that monitor nuclear waste at Chernobyl had stopped transmitting data.
"I'm deeply concerned about the difficult and stressful situation facing staff at the Chernobyl nuclear plant and the potential risks this entails for nuclear safety," Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said. "I call on the forces in effective control of the site to urgently facilitate the safe rotation of personnel there."
The IAEA said in a tweet earlier Tuesday, however, that it didn't foresee a "critical impact on safety" from the power outage.
More than 200 workers at the Chernobyl plant have been trapped there since the start of the war as no one is being allowed to replace them. The IAEA on Wednesday called on the international community to facilitate a staff rotation.
The Chernobyl nuclear plant was the site of a 1986 partial core meltdown after an explosion in its reactor No. 4. It was one of the worst nuclear disasters in history.
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