Source: International Atomic Energy Agency – IAEA
Maintenance of several of the reactor safety systems is being conducted at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), an essential part of wider efforts to prevent a nuclear accident during the military conflict, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi of the International Atomic Energy (IAEA) said today.
In its regular reporting on the situation at the ZNPP, the IAEA has previously identified “ensuring adequate and timely preventative maintenance of all structures, systems, and components important to safety” as one of several challenges the plant is facing during the conflict, presenting a potential risk to long-term nuclear safety and security.
Earlier this month, the IAEA expert team stationed at the ZNPP was informed that two safety trains – one in reactor unit 4 and the other in unit 5 – were placed under maintenance for work on their water regulation valves. The work is now complete and the two safety trains are back to standby mode. This week, another two safety trains – in units 5 and 6 – were also taken out of service for planned maintenance.
Each of the six reactors at the ZNPP has three separate, independent safety systems, called “safety trains”. These redundant systems are designed to ensure nuclear safety. Normally, these safety trains remain on standby but are ready to activate whenever needed to maintain the reactor’s safety. The six reactors of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant (NPP) are all in cold shutdown mode, but still require operational safety systems.
“In addition to the many day-to-day challenges the plant is experiencing – including frequent power outages and combat activities nearby – the plant must also carry out essential work to make sure its safety systems are fully functional at all times,” Director General Grossi said.
The IAEA team has continued to conduct walkdowns across the site as part of their activities to monitor – and report on – nuclear safety and security, which remains precarious.
Over the past two weeks, the team members visited the turbine halls of units 1 to 4, but were again denied access to the western parts of these structures. In addition, they were not able to visit the off-site central warehouse and diesel fuel storage, with the plant citing security concerns, as has also happened previously. Diesel fuel is important for the upcoming winter season as well as for the plant’s emergency diesel generators.
The IAEA team has continued to hear explosions daily, although no damage to the plant was reported. The IAEA is aware of a media report that a resident in the nearby town of Enerhodar, where most plant staff live, was killed in a military strike. The IAEA does not have information on whether this individual was a ZNPP staff member or not.
The IAEA teams present at the Khmelnytskyy, Rivne and South Ukraine NPPs and the Chornobyl site reported that nuclear safety and security is being maintained despite the effects of the ongoing conflict, including air raid alarms for several days over the past week.
On 7 November, Ukraine’s national regulator informed the IAEA that the Central Storage Facility for Spent Fuel – located within the Exclusion Zone of the Chornobyl NPP – had lost off-site power for about two hours and relied on emergency diesel generators for electricity during this time. The facility, owned by Energoatom, is used for long-term dry storage of Ukraine’s spent fuel.
Four days later, Ukraine’s operating nuclear power reactors – two units at the Rivne NPP, both units at the Khmelnytskyy NPP and all three units of the South Ukraine NPP – temporarily reduced their power output as a preventive measure as a result of the conflict.
Ukraine’s regulator also informed the IAEA that many drones had been observed in the vicinity of the Khmelnytskyy and the South Ukraine NPPs over the past few weeks.
The IAEA has continued to deliver on its comprehensive assistance programme to support nuclear safety and security. In recent days, three deliveries took place, bringing the total to 76 during the conflict. The South Ukraine NPP, the Slavutych city hospital and the medical unit of the Chornobyl site received vital medical equipment and supplies to improve their diagnostic and treatment capabilities. The funding was provided by Norway and the United States.