That’s what Russia intends to do with the nuclear power plant in Zaporizhia
“Russian forces have deployed heavy weapons there”
After repeated shelling of the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant, Russian occupation forces deployed air defense systems around the plant. WELT reporter Stefan Schwarzkopf says the nuclear power plant is in normal operation, but the attacks could cause serious damage.
After days of uncertainty, it is becoming clear what Russia intends to do with the nuclear power plant in Zaporizhia, Ukraine. According to the Ukrainian Nuclear Authority, the nuclear power plant is to be connected to the Russian power grid and supply nuclear power to Crimea. However, there are major risks in this process.
DThe Ukrainian nuclear agency Energoatom. is the president of is explainedRussia’s actions at the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant are due to plans to isolate it from the Ukrainian power grid and instead supply nuclear power from reactors to Russian-occupied Crimea.
“For this purpose, Russia is deliberately damaging nuclear power plant lines, which are connected to Ukraine’s energy system,” Petro Kotin explained on Ukrainian television in the evening.
In the past few days, Russia has already launched attacks on three of the four existing high-voltage lines. The nuclear power plant is currently only connected to the power grid via a production line, which Kotin described as “extremely dangerous”.
“If this line is also cut, the nuclear power plant can be operated only with diesel generators. Then it all depends on how reliable they are and how high the fuel supply is, ”continues Kotin.
Finally seceded from Ukraine
Behind this is a plan by Russian power operator Rosatom, which the Russian military is implementing at the site. Ultimately, the nuclear power plant is to be completely isolated from Ukraine and eventually connected to Russia’s power grid.
zaporizhia nuclear power plant
Source: Infographic World
During this process, the Ukrainian regions around Russian-occupied Kherson and Zaporizhia will receive electricity for some time from the Daschankoye power plant in Crimea and a hydroelectric power plant in Kakovka on the Dnieper, from which the flow of electricity should eventually reach nuclear. . The power plant, which in turn will supply nuclear power to it from a Russia-operated network, will feed.
However, occasionally, a nuclear power plant has to be completely cut off from the energy supply, which Kotin described as the most dangerous moment, as failure of the diesel generator and thus cooling can lead to core meltdown. “We are only one step away from the first phase of the Fukushima disaster,” he underscored the gravity of the situation.
The wind is blowing for Russia
The nuclear power plant has come under fire twice in the past few days. Parts of the plant were damaged and a reactor had to be shut down. Russia and Ukraine are blaming each other for these attacks. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also warned of a nuclear catastrophe on Monday.
In concrete terms, the local population in particular would be threatened by a potential release. “There will be an area of 50 to 100 kms in which it will no longer be possible to live. Several hundred kilometers away, the environment will still be significantly contaminated,” explained Wolfgang Raskob, a specialist in nuclear safety research at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), in an interview with WELT over the weekend.
“According to our calculations, less than 10 percent of the time the wind blows is westward, that is, towards Germany,” says Raskob. For several days, the wind is “directed to the full east towards Russia.” In the event of a disaster, Russian regions would also be at risk.
“Kick-Off Politics” is WELT’s daily news podcast. Most important topics analyzed by WELT editors and dates of the day. subscribe to podcast Spotify, Apple Podcasts, amazon music Or directly through the RSS feed.
