Zaporozhye nuclear power plant was not directly affected by floods in Ukraine. But in the medium term, there may be problems with the cooling system.
Nuclear power plant expert: Zaporozhye is under threat
The safety of the Ukrainian nuclear power plant in Zaporozhye is under threat in the medium term after the collapse of the dam, a reactor safety expert said. According to Nikolaus Müllner from the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences in Vienna, despite the dam burst, the water supply for the cooling systems is guaranteed for several months.
But due to hostilities, it is doubtful that this window of opportunity can be used to obtain alternative sources of water, the head of the Institute for Security and Risk Sciences told the Deutsche Presse-Agentur newspaper. “This is certainly a threatening situation,” he said.
In addition, the head of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi, warned that the large cooling pond of the nuclear power plant could be damaged by the warring parties. In addition, according to Grossi and Greenpeace activists, there is a danger that the dam around the pond will be under too much pressure and be damaged due to changes in water levels.
The nuclear power plant is directly on the front line
On Tuesday, both Ukraine and Russia reported serious damage to the dam and the Novaya Kakhovka hydroelectric plant in Russian-occupied territory on the Dnieper River, blaming each other. However, the floods do not directly affect the nuclear power plant, which is also controlled by Russia and located more than 100 kilometers upstream.
But Europe’s largest nuclear power plant draws water from the dammed Dnieper to cool its six decommissioned reactors and nuclear waste. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the level of this reservoir may soon fall so much that it will no longer be possible to pump water out of it. However, the nuclear power plant has a cooling pond measuring approximately two kilometers by three kilometers, as well as smaller cooling ponds, channels and wells that can be used to keep cooling systems running for several months to prevent catastrophic overheating, as in Chernobyl ( 1986) or Fukushima (2011).
Under normal conditions, this time would be enough to, for example, lower the intake pipes in the Dnieper reservoir, Müllner said. However, it is difficult to assess whether this is currently possible, “since the nuclear power plant is directly on the front line,” the expert said.
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Top photo: Kateryna Klochko/AP
