Ukraine’s nuclear power plants are at ‘unprecedented’ risk as fighting continues

Photo credit should read Dmytro Smolyenko / Barcroft Media via Getty Images

Nuclear experts are worried about the safety of Ukraine's nuclear power plants as Russia invades the country. The conflict is the first time warfare has exploded in a region that is heavily reliant on nuclear energy.

The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency said in an introductory statement that he was gravely concerned about the situation in Ukraine.

Ukraine's 15 nuclear reactors, which typically generate over half of the country's power, have worrisome vulnerabilities in a warzone. The biggest concern for now is a catastrophic failure of the power grid in Ukraine, since the IAEA and experts who spoke with The Verge remain skeptical that Russia would target nuclear power plants.

Ukraine has experience with nuclear catastrophe. The reactor at Chernobyl exploded in 1986. Officials are trying to prevent history from repeating itself. For a disaster to happen again, several layers of safety systems would have to fail. Conflict could cause holes in the safety nets.

Photo by Pyotr SivkovTASS via Getty Images

Nuclear power plants are strong and designed to resist accidental aircraft crashes, according to James Acton, a physicist and co-director of the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Staying cool.

When it comes to how much of its electricity comes from nuclear energy, Ukraine is third in the world. There are four separate nuclear plants that produce that power. The fuel in the reactor creates a lot of heat, so it needs to be cooled down to prevent a catastrophe.

Several of the country's reactors have been shut down so that they don't supply power to the grid. It won't need as much water and energy for critical cooling systems if a reactor is shut off. The fuel is very hot even in a shutdown. Even if a reactor is generating power for the grid, it still needs an external source of energy to run its cooling system. Nuclear plants rely on other sources of power to run their own operations, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists' director of nuclear power safety. If a reactor is shut down, the cooling systems can work normally.

Outside of the power plants, one of the biggest dangers to the reactor is. Nuclear power plants can still rely on diesel-powered generators if the grid fails catastrophically. How long those generators are useful depends on how much diesel fuel is on hand.

In the event that the grid goes down, the diesel runs out of the generators, and cooling systems fail, the reactor are sequestered within heavy-duty containment buildings. They should be able to temporarily block radioactive emissions from entering the environment. Frank von Hippel, a senior research physicist and professor of public and international affairs at Princeton University, said that if the fuel inside starts melting, enough pressure could build up to break the containment building. People would only have a limited amount of time to get to the plant and get the cooling systems back online.

All of those things happening at the same time are very unlikely. A series of very unlikely events can become more likely in a war.

Keeping spent nuclear fuel safe is a concern beyond the cooling systems. It is usually held in cooling pools just outside of the containment building. The pools are less protected and could store more fuel. The fuel inside the pool could melt if the pool is drained.

There is a risk of a missile breaking through the containment building or striking backup generators or cooling systems. There were no reports of radioactive release after two waste disposal facilities were struck over the weekend. The experts are less concerned about a deliberate attack on high-profile nuclear sites because it would also threaten Russian interests.

Photo credit should read Volodymyr Tarasov/ Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images

Russian officials told the IAEA that they had taken control of the territory around the Zaporizhzhia plant. It is not clear whether they have taken control of the facility's operations. The power plants are operating normally and the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine is still in communication with all of the country's nuclear facilities.

There is nothing normal about the circumstances under which the professionals at Ukraine's four Nuclear Power Plants are managing to keep.

Stressed-out staff poses its own risks to nuclear sites because they can be dangerous if they make a mistake. Grossi said at the press conference that the wellbeing of staff is a humanitarian issue and a technical one.

The White House said that Russia was likely holding staff at Chernobyl hostage. There isn't an imminent threat, and anydoomsday scenario is unlikely. There has been a slight rise in radiation levels in the area, likely because of military equipment disturbing radioactive debris in the soil, but the IAEA says that isn't enough to pose a public health hazard.

The safety net needs to be maintained.

There are steps that can be taken to mitigate the effects of a nuclear power plant meltdown. Water can be used to douse the melting fuel. Ukraine would need diesel and water to power those pumps. Officials can prevent a worst-case scenario by thinking about the supply chain in advance.

Ensuring that the supply lines to the nuclear sites were not disrupted was a priority for Grossi, as well as maintaining the physical integrity of the structures and being prepared to respond to any problems. Keeping workers safe and the power grid online is important to him. Keeping radiation monitoring systems running was one priority.

Grossi invoked countries' responsibilities to uphold a 2009 decision by the IAEA General Conference that affirmed that any armed attack on and threat against nuclear facilities devoted to peaceful purposes constitutes a violation of the principles of the United Nations Charter.

To keep Chernobyl and other nuclear facilities safe, the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine has asked the IAEA to provide immediate assistance. The country's request for help was one of the topics of a meeting held this morning by the intergovernmental organization.

Grossi didn't say what kind of assistance the IAEA might provide at the press conference. He said that the agency plans to conduct physical inspections of nuclear facilities in the future, and that he is in touch with all the relevant partners.

The conflict in Ukraine could have a significant impact on other parts of the world, according to experts.

Related

What does Russia’s invasion of Ukraine mean for Chernobyl?