High voltage line damaged
“It is less likely that fuel elements will melt” – Experts assess situation in Chernobyl
The Chernobyl nuclear power plant complex with the distinctive concrete protective shell around the 1986 damaged reactor. The recording is from 2019.
© Brendan Hoffman / Getty Images
Is a new nuclear accident imminent? New disturbing news from the 1986 damaged Chernobyl nuclear power plant in northern Ukraine is causing concern. Experts cautiously give the all-clear.
The news made people sit up and fear the worst: the Ukrainian energy company Ukrenergo announced this Wednesday that the power supply to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which was damaged in 1986, had been completely cut off as a result of “the military activities of the Russian occupying forces”. Because of the hostilities, there is also no way of restoring the 750-kilovolt high-voltage line between the capital Kyiv and the power plant some 100 kilometers to the north.
Among other things, the cooling systems for spent fuel elements are threatened with failure, added Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, according to news agencies. Reserved diesel generators can therefore only generate electricity for around 48 hours.
How dangerous is the situation at the Chernobyl power plant?
Is there now a risk of another serious accident at the accident reactor, possibly with consequences for large parts of Europe? According to experts, at least not at first. That’s the good news.
The International Atomic Energy Agency IAEA pointed out in a statement that around 20,000 fuel elements are stored in a water basin. “The thermal load on the basin and the volume of the cooling water (enough) are sufficient to ensure effective heat removal without electricity.” In plain language: According to the IAEA, the water sufficiently cools the fuel elements without the need for electricity.
The non-profit Society for Plant and Reactor Safety in Cologne shares this assessment of the situation in Chernobyl. Your spokesman Sven Dokter said that stern: “The last reactor there was shut down in 2000. After such a long time, nothing has to be actively cooled on the plant.”
“The elements have been decaying there for at least 22 years and will therefore no longer show any problematic heat development,” said Georg Steinhauser, Professor of Environmental Radioactivity at the University of Hanover, the Science Media Center. “So I think these bearings might hold up for a while without electricity.”
“It is less likely that the fuel elements will melt,” explained Wolfgang Raskop from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. But he restricted: Ultimately, this would have to be clarified by experts.
Scientists are therefore cautiously optimistic that the cut power line does not pose any immediate danger. The Chernobyl nuclear power plant is still causing concern. This is the bad news. The IAEA warned of a deterioration in the situation there on Tuesday. The more than 200-person technical and security team on site has been on duty for almost two weeks without interruption because no shift change was carried out under Russian control. “I am deeply concerned regarding the difficult and stressful situation faced by the staff at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and the potential risks this poses to nuclear safety,” said IAEA Chief Executive Rafael Grossi.
“I don’t think we can even imagine how the burden on the local people from the blackout is in addition to the ‘hostage’ that the workforce has been in since the Russian forces took over. In addition to the twelve Days of continuous use since then,” said Professor Steinhauser of environmental radioactivity. “Now the electricity is also out in the simple accommodation, so there is no heating and no hot water. The burden on the workforce is really difficult to imagine.”
IAEA: Ukraine and Russia to issue guarantees
However, there is no final all-clear for dangers from Ukrainian nuclear reactors like Chernobyl – especially not as long as the war is still going on. Almost every day there are incidents at the nuclear plants in the country. According to Ukrainian sources, a training building near a reactor at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant has been on fire in the past few days following it was shelled. For days, the IAEA has been pushing for swift negotiations with Ukrainian and Russian representatives in order to work out guarantees for the nuclear facilities and avoid serious accidents.
The Ukraine obtains around half of its electricity requirements from 15 nuclear power plants. The Chernobyl plant has not been used to generate energy since 2000. In 1986, the worst nuclear disaster in history happened. The Unit 4 reactor exploded during an experiment. Large amounts of radioactivity were released and contaminated several areas, especially in Ukraine and what is now Belarus. How many people died as a result of the accident has not been finally clarified to this day. Estimates run into the tens of thousands.
Swell: Ukrenergo bei Telegram, IAEA on Twitter, Science Media Center, news agencies AFP and DPA
