The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, a site of international concern since its seizure by Russian forces in March, shut down its final reactor.
The final remaining reactor was shut down over safety concerns due to shelling, which Russia and Ukraine blame each other for. The local Russian administration said that the plant would remain closed until all shelling ceased, according to the Russian news outlet Kommersant. The decision comes a week after United Nations inspectors were finally able to inspect the plant following months of uncertainty. The ZNPP has been a major focus of international attention due to the possibility of fighting triggering a nuclear disaster.
“Now the risks of an accident at the station are seriously reduced, since the stopped reactor emits much less heat, the pressure and temperature in it are lower, which reduces the risk of a steam release,” Dmitry Gorchakov, an independent nuclear energy expert, told the Russian outlet. “If the generators do suddenly stop, then the personnel will have more time to solve problems, and the potential damage will be much less. The [International Atomic Energy Agency] experts assured that the diesel generators at the station are in good condition.”
UKRAINIAN NUCLEAR PLANT LOSES EXTERNAL POWER DUE TO SHELLING, UN WATCHDOG SAYS
He added that shutting down the plant prevents the most likely disaster scenario: overheating of the reactor due to a loss of its power supply, as happened in Fukushima during the 2011 tsunami.
Energoatom, Ukraine’s state nuclear energy agency, announced in a Telegram post that it would be shutting the plant down due to the condition of the local Ukrainian staff and power issues. Ukraine informed the International Atomic Energy Agency that Russia had taken control of the ZNPP in March.
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Though the ZNPP formerly supplied nearly one-quarter of Ukraine’s electricity needs, the shutdown is unlikely to have a major, immediate impact on Ukrainian energy needs, as energy consumption has gone down drastically since the invasion, by as much as 30%-40%, according to Kommersant. However, massive Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure in recent days have crippled the embattled nation’s energy grid, leaving many areas completely without power, Voice of America reported.
