The nuclear safety of the Zaporizhia power plant in southeastern Ukraine is in danger, warned the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, in a statement issued on Wednesday. According to the organization, the“last emergency power line” of the plant, damaged since March 1, remains“disconnected and under repair“. This line would allow, as a last resort, to ensure nuclear safety and security, notably by cooling the reactors.
For the past three weeks, the plant has been supplied with electricity by a single 750 kV main external line, which makes it totally dependent. Any failure of this line could result in the total loss of off-site power to the plant. “Nuclear safety within the (plant) remains in a precarious state,” Grossi said. He called on all parties involved to ensure nuclear safety and protection of the security of the plant.
On March 9, the plant was cut off from the Ukrainian power grid for 11 hours after a Russian strike. Emergency diesel generators were then started to provide minimal power to the safety systems. This situation was considered a major risk of nuclear accident. “We’re playing with fire,” Grossi warned.
The High Representative of the European Union, Josep Borell, also expressed his concern about the situation, calling the incident “a serious violation of nuclear safety, caused by Russia … Zaporizhia is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. And Russia is endangering the safety of the entire European continent, including Russia.
Without electricity from these generators, overheating of reactor fuel could quickly lead to a nuclear accident, similar to the one in Fukushima, Japan in 2011. The situation remains very worrying and requires special attention from the competent authorities to avoid a major nuclear disaster.
