Chernobyl power supply fails after Russian attack

A substation in the small town of Slavutych has been hit by a Russian air force attack. According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Energy, this caused a power cut in the town itself as well as in the nearby destroyed Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

Following voltage fluctuations, the power supply to the new containment vessel failed, according to a message from the ministry via the messaging service Telegram. “Experts are currently working to restore the power supply.”

The most serious nuclear accident occurred in unit 4 of the nuclear power plant in Chernobyl in April 1986 during a simulation of a power outage: following a core meltdown, large quantities of radioactive material were released and traveled as far as Western Europe. The area has been an exclusion zone ever since.

A protective shell was erected over the reactor in the year of the disaster. The so-called sarcophagus was intended to prevent further leaks of radioactive material. However, this became dilapidated over the years, which is why a new, double-walled protective shell, the New Safe Containment (NSC), was built next to the damaged block from 2010. After completion, the NSC was pulled over the ruins of the power plant unit on rails.

Chernobyl needs electricity

However, the NSC and the other reactors that have since been decommissioned still need to be supplied with electricity. Among other things, this is needed to cool around 21,000 spent fuel elements stored on the site.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced via the short message service X that the power supply for the decommissioned units could be “quickly switched to alternative lines.” The power supply there has been restored. However, this does not apply to the NSC. This had to be supplied by two diesel-powered emergency generators.

This is not the first time that the nuclear power plant has been affected by the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine: Russian troops occupied the plant during the first days of the war in February 2022. However, they withdrew after a few weeks. On 14 February this year, a Russian drone struck the NSC. This triggered a smoldering fire that severely damaged the hull.

(wpl)