Power outages are reported at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. This can lead to increased radioactive radiation, according to the operator of the plant.
– There are approximately 20,000 spent fuel cells in the storage area in area 1. They need constant cooling. It is only possible if they are connected to power, writes the Ukrainian Directorate for Special Communications on Twitter.
– If there is no electricity, the pumps will not cool down the fuel cells, and the temperature in the cooling basins will increase, they write.
Requires ceasefire
Reserve diesel generators have a 48-hour capacity to power the Chornobyl NPP. After that, cooling systems of the storage facility for spent nuclear fuel will stop, making radiation leaks imminent. Putin’s barbaric war puts entire Europe in danger. He must stop it immediately! 2/2
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on Twitter that the Chernobyl diesel generators have the capacity to operate the plant for 48 hours.
– After that, the cooling system in the storage facility will stop, which increases the risk of radioactive leaks. Putin’s barbaric war endangers all of Europe, he writes.
Kuleba now demands a ceasefire in the area, so they can send in repairers who can restore the power supply.
– May be relevant with measures
Acting department director Ingar Amundsen in the Directorate for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety (DSA) tells Dagbladet that the risk for Norwegians in the event of an accident is small.
– We consider it unlikely that there will be any acute health effects in Norway as a result of a possible radioactive fallout, or that iodine tablets will be necessary. Should there be a large discharge in Ukraine and wind direction towards us, we will be able to measure radioactive substances in Norway and it may be relevant with measures in parts of the food industry, says Amundsen.
– Discontinued
IODINE: It is not the war in Ukraine that is the reason why you should have iodine tablets at home, explains senior adviser in the Directorate for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety, Ingrid Dypvik Landmark. view more
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The last of the four reactors shut down in 2000. Chernobyl is the site of the largest nuclear accident in history in 1986.
In addition, there is a larger warehouse for radioactive material at the facility.
– Under control
Russian forces now have control of the area. They emphasized in a statement to the news agency TASS previously that the situation in Chernobyl was under control.
– Right now the situation at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is under control. The operation is now being carried out jointly by Russian military personnel, Ukrainian specialists, civilian personnel working at the facility and the national rank, said spokeswoman Maria Zakharova in the Russian Foreign Ministry.
On Tuesday, the Ukrainians claimed that the amount of radiation from the decommissioned power plant was 20-fold. Zakhrarova strongly rejects this, saying that the radiation level is as normal.
She says the reason they have taken control of both Chernobyl and Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, the Zaporizhia power plant, is to “prevent a nuclear threat”.
– The actions of the Russian forces in this dangerous situation were guided by the need to prevent a nuclear threat from Ukrainian nationalists, who clearly have nothing to lose. They have actually trained for this. That is why Russia is taking control of Ukraine’s nuclear power plant, she says.
