One power unit working at Zaporizhzhya NPP. Nuclear disaster awaits, if it is hit

Olena Roschyna – Friday, 4 March 2022, 10:11

One power unit is working at the occupied Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant (NPP) and the staff have been allowed to return to work, but all six power units contain nuclear fuel and if they are hit by a missile, the consequences will be catastrophic.

Source: Petro Kotin, Acting President of Energoatom, on Ukrainian TV

Kotin said: "A column of military equipment approached the square in front of the administrative building of the nuclear power plant and began firing at the NPP area, in particular the education and training centre and the administrative building, in order to damage the entrance gatehouse and enter the power plant.

Targeted shelling lasted until 4.30 am, razing the education and training centre to the ground, one of the NPP’s buildings. Shells were seen hitting power unit 1 and the ZNPP overpass.

At 4.40 am the Russian troops broke the defence of the power plant and entered its territory, taking the staff and management of the plant under their control. As of now, we do not have any communication with them, the management is working at gunpoint. Staff were allowed to return to work this morning and perform their duties."

Details: Kotin clarified that there is no direct communication with Energoatom and that he is receiving information from his sources at the plant.

Kotin said: "What threat does the current situation pose? There are six power units. Each of them is filled with fuel, filled completely. There are also three cooling pools which contain spent fuel. The plant also has a separate nuclear unit, a dry storage facility for spent nuclear fuel, where there currently are 150 tanks of spent nuclear fuel.

If any kind of projectile hits any of these structures, there will be a nuclear disaster. This is the main danger.

So when the shelling was just starting, we started to move the power units into a safe state: we disconnected two power units from the power grid and began cooling two other power units in order to make them – and the nuclear fuel they contain – as safe as possible."

Detail: Kotin added that it is difficult for the power grid to function after the disconnection of two power units, but it has been successful so far and it is "ready for the shutdown of the last power unit of the ZNPP."

He said that the power grid will be balanced with the help from Ukrenergo [transmission system operator managed by the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine].

The Head of Energoatom added that it will only be possible to make any decisions as to how the last power unit (no. 4) at the ZNPP will operate after safety guarantees are made by the Russian occupiers.