Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant
Experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) at the Zaporizhzhya NPP heard the sounds of explosions and saw dark smoke in the northern part of the plant. This was stated in a publication by the organization on X (formerly Twitter). "IAEA experts saw thick dark smoke coming from the northern part of the Zaporizhzhya NPP, and several explosions were heard earlier in the evening. Zaporizhzhya NPP informed the team of a suspected drone attack on one of the cooling towers at the facility. There were no reports of nuclear safety implications," the text notes. Earlier it was reported that the Armed Forces of Ukraine attacked the cooling systems of the Zaporizhzhya NPP using a kamikaze drone. As reported at the plant, as a result of the shelling, a fire broke out in the area of the cooling towers, which was later localized. The fire did not affect the functioning of the NPP in any way.
A cooling tower was the site of the mighty fine blze, with bright flames at the base and thick black smoke shooting out the top of the tower where white steam was formerly to be seen. Not to make too fine a point of things, but it is not immediately evident what aspect of the cooling tower would produce such fire and smoke. The conflagration and pillar of smoke looked a lot more like a bonfire of tires, with some accelerant added for good measure.
Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Station is a Soviet-era facility that is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe (6,000 MW, 6 VVER-1000 units).
All six reactor units of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) are now in cold shutdown for the first time since late 2022 after unit 4 reached this operational state early 13 April 2024, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said. "I welcome this development which has been recommended by the Agency for some time, as it enhances the overall safety of the facility. The Agency will continue to closely follow the operational status of the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant and provide technically viable alternatives in a context of rapid changes and challenges," Director General Grossi said. In line with the ZNPP's plans, previously reported by the IAEA, the plant started transitioning unit 4 from hot to cold shutdown. It decided to take this step after the nearby town of Enerhodar - where most plant staff live - recently ended the winter heating season. The ZNPP stopped generating electricity for the national grid in September 2022, but it had kept at least one of its six units in hot shutdown since October 2022 to provide district heating as well as process steam for liquid waste treatment at the site.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on 22 June 2023 that Ukrainian spies had received information showing Russia is considering carrying out a "terrorist" attack at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. While there have been persistent fears about the enormous nuclear plant throughout Russia's war in Ukraine, the breach of a dam that provided the plant's cooling water has exacerbated concern. Speaking in a video statement on the Telegram platform, Zelenskyy said Kyiv was sharing information about the Russian-occupied facility in southern Ukraine with European allies, the United States, China and India. "Intelligence has received information that Russia is considering the scenario of a terrorist act at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant — a terrorist act with the release of radiation," he said. "They have prepared everything for this."
The naming of the Zaporizhzhya NPP celcbrates the Zaporizhzhya Sich [and is a confusing distance from the city of the same name]. The area derives its name from the word Zaporizhzhska Sich (Fort Beyond The Rapids). In 1552 Cossacks built a permanent wooden fortification (sich) on the Little Khortytsya Island in the Dnieper River south of the rapids, near the present city of Zaporizhzhya. During the next two centuries, the sich was moved a number of times, but was usually rebuilt on a river island.
The 1686 treaty proclaiming "eternal peace" between Poland and Russia finalized the partition of Ukraine. The territory under Russia was divided into three administrative units: the Hetmanate, Sloboda Ukraine, and Zaporizhzhya. In the late 18th century, the Zaporizhzhya region included most of the present Donbass and the lower Right Bank Ukraine stretching as far west as the Boh River, but excluding the Black Sea coast. In 1775 as the Russian army was returning from the war against Turkey, it launched a surprise attack and destroyed the sich. The Cossack chieftain was exiled to the Solovki Islands and senior officers were sent to Siberia while thousands of Cossacks fled.
The VVER-1000 design was developed between 1975 and 1985 based on the requirements of a new Soviet nuclear standard that incorporated some international practices, particularly in the area of plant safety. Principal strengths include steel-lined, pre-stressed, large-volume concrete containment structure, similar in function to Western nuclear plants. This "Evolutionary" design incorporating safety improvements over VVER-440 Model V213 plants. The Soviet approach to standardization was based on continued use of components that had performed well in earlier plants. Use of four coolant loops and horizontal steam generators are both considered improvements by Soviet designers. The redesigned fuel assemblies allow better flow of coolant, and improved control rods. Plant worker radiation levels were reportedly lower than in many Western plants, apparently due to selection of materials, high-capacity system for purifying primary coolant, and water-chemistry control.
Principal Deficiencies include substandard plant instrumentation and controls. Wiring of emergency electrical system and reactor-protection system does not meet Western standards for separation -- control and safety functions are inter connected in ways that may allow failure of a control system to prevent operation of a safety system. Unlike all U.S. nuclear plants, and most in Western countries, VVER-1000s have no on-site "technical support center" to serve as a command post for stabilizing the plant in an emergency. Technical support centers were incorporated in U.S. and many Western nuclear plants following the accident at Three Mile Island Unit 2 in 1979. Operating and emergency procedures that fall far short of Western standards and vary greatly among opera tors of VVER-1000 plants. Higher power densities and smaller volume of primary and secondary systems result in a somewhat less forgiving and stable reactor.
By 1995 additional spent fuel storage space was required to prevent Ukraine's Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant from exceeding the capacity of its spent fuel storage pools. The United States supported Ukraine in this effort by transferring the technol ogy for fabricating and licensing the dry cask storage system. After Ukraine regulatory officials approve a construction license in early 1996, the rest of the cask system will be completed in Ukraine. Loading of spent fuel into the first cask was scheduled for late 1996.
Plant workers reportedly sent a letter to then-President Kravchuk and the Ukrainian Parliament in May 1993, saying that the entire plant might have to be shut down because of a shortage of skilled personnel. The letter asked for salary increases to bring plant workers up to the level of Russian nuclear plant personnel. According to former General Director, Volodymyr Bronnikov, the plant lost 427 highly qualified workers in 1993. Bronnikov also said that the plant was paid for only 40 percent of the electricity it delivered in 1993. In addition, the plant is running out of spent fuel storage capacity. Bronnikov has reportedly said that without additional storage, the plant may be forced to shut down Unit 1 in 1995, and might have to close two more units in 1996.
In early March 2022, Russia attacked and seized Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Station and continued to use force to control the plant. Igor Kirillov, head of Russia's radioactive, chemical and biological defense forces, said in an August 2022 briefing that the plant's backup support systems had been damaged as a result of shelling. He added that radioactive material could spread across Germany, Poland and Slovakia in the event of an accident.
According to the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Rafael Mariano Grossi, the Zaporizhzhya plant was subject to shelling on 05 August 2022, “resulting in several explosions near the electrical switchboard, and causing a power shutdown. One reactor unit was disconnected from the electrical grid, triggering its emergency protection system and setting generators into operation to ensure power supply.” Grossi warned that all “the seven indispensable pillars that are critical for nuclear safety and security … have been compromised if not entirely violated at one point or another during this crisis.”
Ukrainian state electricity provider Energoatom has accused Russian occupying forces of attacking the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant with the goal of disconnecting it from the Ukrainian power grid. "Artillery shelling of the Zaporizhzhia NPP is a terrorist act intended to destroy the plant's infrastructure, disrupt all of its power lines that feed electricity into Ukraine's power grid and cut off power in the south of the country," Energoatom wrote in a Telegram post on 06 August 2022.
Russia had been widely accused of using the plant as a shield from which to launch attacks. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called Russia's actions a kind of "unconcealed nuclear blackmail." Using the plant in this way violates the Geneva Convention, which states that particular care must be taken if "installations containing dangerous forces" are located near fighting. About 500 Russian troops are reported to be currently at the site. "The facility must not be used as part of any military operation," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement after a meeting of the Security Council last week. "Instead, urgent agreement is needed at a technical level on a safe perimeter of demilitarization to ensure the safety of the area."
The United States welcomed the 12 August 2022 technical report of the IAEA’s mission to the Zaporizhzhya facility. "We support continued, unhindered, and safe IAEA access to the facility. To that end, it is essential that Russia allow Ukrainian operators to implement any and all measures the IAEA team and Ukrainian operators deem important for the safe and secure operation of the plant to decrease the risk of a nuclear incident. Colleagues, this is a matter of international nuclear safety and security. The potential danger here is enormous. It concerns us all. And so once again, we support Ukraine’s call for the demilitarization of the area surrounding the Zaporizhzhya facility. And we demand Russia’s immediate withdrawal from Ukraine’s sovereign territory.
"Despite Russia’s song and dance here today to avoid acknowledging responsibility for its actions, Russia has no right to expose the world to unnecessary risk and the possibility of nuclear catastrophe. Worse, this is a situation entirely of Russia’s making. The current danger at Zaporizhzhya is a result of Russia’s unprovoked and unlawful invasion of Ukraine. And specifically, it is a result of Russia’s premeditated March 4th seizure of this plant."
Ukraine is counting on a military scenario for the return of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant , Energoatom CEO Petr Kotin said 04 January 2023. In particular, Kotin said that a more likely scenario than the creation of a safe zone around the ZNPP is the return of the station to the control of the Ukrainian military. "We rely most of all on the Ukrainian Armed Forces," Kotin said. According to him, if the Armed Forces of Ukraine manage to break through Russian positions and take Melitopol, located more than 100 kilometers south of the station, "the only option for the occupiers is to leave the nuclear power plant."
The head of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi, announced the failure of negotiations on the creation of a demilitarized zone around the ZNPP. At the end of March 2023, he said that the situation around the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant was not improving, and hostilities were intensifying. He also noted that ZNPP cannot be protected against the backdrop of military activity.
lmagery shows that by March 202J, Russian forces had established sandbag fighting positions on the roofs of several ofthe six reactor buildings at Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP). This is reported by British intelligence on 27 April 2023. Russia has controlled ZNPP since March 2022. However this is the first indication of the actual reactor buildings being integrated in tactical defence planning. Russia has likely constructed these positions because it is increasingly concerned about the prospects of a major Ukrainian offensive.
The move highly likely increases the chances of damage to ZNPP 5afety 5y5tems if fiqhting takes place around ZNPP. However, direct catastrophic damage to the reactors is unlikely under most plausible scenarios involving infantry weapons because the structures are very heavily reinforced As of March, the Russian occupying forces have set up defensive positions at several reactor buildings of the Zaporizhzhia NPP.
The British Ministry of Defense reports that available satellite images show that by March 2023, Russian troops had set up positions fortified with sandbags on the roofs of several of the six reactor buildings at the Zaporizhzhia NPP. The review notes that Russia has been in control of the Zaporizhzhia NPP since March 2022, and this is the first indication that the reactor buildings are being directly integrated into tactical defense planning.
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) experts present at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) have heard shelling almost every day over the past week and at one point were told to shelter at the site because of the potential dangers caused by continued military activity in the region, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said 21 April 2023. The IAEA team’s recent reports to headquarters in Vienna further underscore the serious nuclear safety and security risks facing Europe’s largest nuclear power plant (NPP) during the military conflict, at a time of increased speculation of imminent military offensives and counter-offensives in the southern Ukrainian region and elsewhere in the country, Director General Grossi said.
“I saw clear indications of military preparations in the area when I visited the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant just over three weeks ago. Since then, our experts at the site have frequently reported about hearing detonations, at times suggesting intense shelling not far from the site. I’m deeply concerned about the situation at the plant,” he said.
Adding to the nuclear safety and security risks, the ZNPP continues to rely on the only remaining functioning 750 kilovolt (kV) power line for the external electricity it needs for reactors cooling and other essential nuclear safety and security functions. Before the conflict, the plant had four such off-site power lines available. A back-up 330 kV power line that was damaged on 1 March on the other side of the Dnipro River from the Russian-controlled ZNPP has still not been repaired, with Ukraine having said military action is preventing its experts from safely accessing the location situated in territory it controls to repair the line.
On a more positive note, the water level in the Kakhovska Reservoir – which provides water for ZNPP reactor cooling – has gradually been increasing over the past two months and has now returned to normal level, 16.2 metres on 21 April 2023. As a result of the warmer weather, the operator has started to put reactor Unit 6 in cold shutdown which is expected to be reached by the weekend, leaving only Unit 5 in hot shutdown to produce hot water and steam for the site. The two reactors were in hot shutdown during the winter to provide steam and heating to the ZNPP as well as heating to the nearby city of Enerhodar, where many plant personnel live.
On the eve of the June 23 visit to the Russian Federation by the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi, Zelensky accused Moscow of allegedly preparing a terrorist attack at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant. Without presenting any evidence, he notified Brazil, India, China, the United States, as well as countries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The head of the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs, Igor Klymenko, said that “in the event of a possible radiation leak at the ZNPP,” exercises will be held in Ukraine, and headquarters will be deployed in case of a possible emergency.
Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov called Zelensky's statement another lie. Commenting on Zelensky’s allegations that the Russian Federation was allegedly preparing a terrorist attack at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, adviser to the general director of the Rosenergoatom concern Renat Karchaa, expressed the opinion that the Ukrainian leader’s statements could be a sign that Kiev is preparing a terrorist attack or a strike on the ZNPP to draw NATO into the Ukrainian conflict.
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