After the European Parliament recognized Russia as a sponsor of terrorism, the aggressor carried out another terrorist attack against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure on November 23. As a result of the bombardment, units at three nuclear power plants in Ukraine were disconnected from the electrical system. What are the consequences for nuclear power and the entire energy system?
On November 23, Ukraine was again subjected to massive rocket attacks. Residents of different cities heard deafening explosions and were left without electricity. By the way, telegraph channels wrote about the emergency shutdown of the power units of the South Ukrainian nuclear power plant. And the head of the Khmelnytsky OVA, Sergei Gamaly, announced the departure of the Khmelnytsky NPP blocks from the power system. In addition, information was received about putting the Rivne NPP in emergency mode. Considering that the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant was captured by the Russians and went into completely cold mode from September 11 as a result of the bombing on November 23, according to preliminary data, all nuclear power in Ukraine was shut down – a total of 15 operating power units of 13,835 GW of capacity at four nuclear power plants. It is now extremely difficult to check information and obtain additional information due to global communication disruptions across Ukraine. By the way, in my new review Focus analyzes, What threat Russian energy terrorism poses to nuclear power and how nuclear power plants work in emergencies.
“The impact of rocket attacks on the functioning of nuclear power plants is quite significant, but information about it is closed. For example, details about the latest events in the RNPP and KhNPP [имеются в виду последствия обстрела 15 ноября]”We only learned from the IAEA report as there was a concrete power outage,” he said. Focus Yuri Korolchuk, expert at the Institute of Energy Strategies.
To clarify, previously the IAEA reported: During the Russian rocket attacks on November 15, the Khmelnytsky nuclear power plant (KhNPP) completely lost access to the electricity grid and had to switch to diesel generators for nine hours. Accordingly, we now have to wait for the IAEA to react to the bombardment on November 23, whose consequences for the Ukrainian energy system could be even more serious.
“On November 15, the Russians hit the node substations, because because of this, all four 750 kV PTO lines died in the KhAES. One 750 kV line was cut at the RAES, which caused the VVER-1000 units to stop , and two small reactors. They gave 600 MW in total and killed a line to Odessa at the South Ukraine station. Because the Ukrainian and Russian energy systems were synchronized before the war started, the Russians are well aware of all the “fine points” they have to hit.“, explains nuclear energy expert Olga Kosharna.
Important
Interlocutor Focus explains that during a power outage from the grid in the power units of nuclear power plants, backup generators turn on, and if they fail, the countdown will begin until the melting of the reactor core, which is fraught with consequences, as it were. Fukushima.
Recall that during the mains disconnect, the reactors go into “cold shutdown” mode and do not produce electricity. In this case, the units do not produce electricity and there is a production shortage in the electrical system, which apparently emerged after the November 23 bombardment.
As Yury Korolchuk pointed out in a comment to Focus, in a cold state the power units can run from generators for 10-14 days, which should be enough to solve the problem even in a global power outage. Therefore, Ukrainians can only hope for the uninterrupted operation of generators at nuclear power plants and a sufficient supply of fuel for them.
Unfortunately, the repetition of such acts of terrorism cannot be ruled out. As Kosharna points out, As soon as the Ukrainian side somehow manages to repair the damage, the attacks are repeated. Evidence of this was the massive attack on November 23, the results of which have not yet been determined.
Recall that after the massive bombing of Ukraine by the Russian Armed Forces on November 23, some parts of Ukraine were de-energized.
Previously Focus He wrote that the condensate storage tanks were damaged as a result of the weekend bombardment of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant in the temporarily occupied Energodar.
As reported, power engineers are already working to restore power supply in all regions of the country. This will take time as the scale of destruction is huge.
Source: Focus
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