COVER STORY | ZAPORIZHZHIA OCCUPATION
Nuclear Safety: Zaporizhzhia and military conflict
In March, Russian forces took control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and its satellite town. Olexiy Kovynyev reflects on the events and what it means for the safety of nuclear power in conflict zones
Olexiy Kovynyev
Independent expert, former reactor operator and shift supervisor, Ukraine
AS A COMPLEX TECHNICAL FACILITY, where an accident could result in significant emissions of hazardous substances, nuclear reactors are designed to take into account all kinds of failures and equipment damage. It is estimated that safety systems make up to 40% of the cost of a typical nuclear unit. But designers cannot realistically include measures to protect against extremely unlikely events like the impact of a large meteorite or, in what was perceived to be just as unlikely, the events that actually occurred in Ukraine in 2022. On 24 February a new era in world nuclear industry began – a military invasion of a country with 15 operating high-power reactors.
On the eve of war Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant is in the south of Ukraine on the left bank of the Dnipro River. It consists of six 1000MWe VVER units and produces about half of Ukraine’s nuclear power and a quarter of the country’s total electricity. The first unit was commissioned in 1984, with the remaining ones energising at one-year intervals. Three units were
put into operation after the Chornobyl accident. The start- up of the sixth unit was postponed due to a moratorium and was carried out in 1995 – in what was by then independent Ukraine. Today, it is the largest nuclear plant in Europe. About 11,000 people work at the plant today. This may
seem excessive in comparison with Western norms, but outsourcing at post-Soviet nuclear plants is traditionally low. Consequently, the personnel that perform most of the necessary work and services are all on the station payroll. Employees and their families live in the town of
Energodar some 4km from the station and with about 50,000 inhabitants. Zaporizhzhia thermal power plant is also located here. With seven units and a 3600 MWe total capacity it is the largest in Ukraine. The town and both stations are on the same side of the Dnipro River, 100 km by road from the large regional centre Zaporizhzhia and about 200 km from Crimea – the southern point of the Russian invasion.
Above: The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was never designed to withstand confl ict Photo credit: Energoatom 18 | June 2022 |
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