The horrors of the nuclear disaster at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant

Posted by: 09/12/2022 – 09:09

Our Special Envoys in Zaporizhia,

In the city, about fifty km from the power plant, we are preparing for the worst.

” We are one centimeter, one millimeter from disaster. The scale of this catastrophe will affect Russia, Europe, and I am not talking about Ukraine. “. The woman issuing this alarm was, until a few days ago, an engineer at the Zaporizhia power station, responsible, among other things, for nuclear safety.

She wishes to remain anonymous and her husband, an employee of the mill, was undoubtedly brought back there. ” A lot of people don’t understand what’s really going on there and how scary it is. They shoot at the site of the power plant, there are shells, craters. We are all stretched like a bow, and we are constantly under pressure. We were definitely prepared to face stressful situations, but not at such levels! There are many factors to consider. If these six reactors are not cooled, we are sure to be headed for global doom. no God ! »

Energoatom is the Ukrainian operator of the power plant Yesterday, Sunday, it was announced that the last reactor in operation would be shut down. The decision was taken after partial restoration of the site’s external power supply.

But if the power lines are detonated again, the plant will be completely dependent on emergency diesel generators to provide nuclear safety and security functions.

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Other workers at the plant, as well as refugees in Zaporizhia, may be at risk from radioactive waste stockpiles. ” In nuclear reactors, if the nuclear fuel is preserved, the spent fuel is stored in steel containers 100 millimeters thick, with concrete on top, and that’s it. More than 150 of these containers are out in the open, protected by a 2-meter-high concrete enclosure, and nothing else… »

Zaporijjia, Dmytro Orlov, the exiled mayor of Energodar, former chief engineer of the turbines, before being elected in 2020, opened a center for humanitarian, social and medical assistance, for all those leaving the city, bombing, loss. Running water and electricity. Among them, most are factory workers.

” Personnel issues can significantly impact safety, Dmytro Orlov explains. People cannot stay at their posts 24 hours a day. A team needs 5 people to ensure rotation between teams. However, we find ourselves in a situation where there were 4 without 5. Residents must work fewer shifts and therefore take less time off. If there are three more people, they have to go to work every day “.

24 hour surveillance

Authorities in Zaporizhia, about 50 km from the plant, are monitoring the situation very closely. A The mobile laboratory measures radiation levels 24 hours a day. ” After being analyzed by sensors that measure the radiation rate, we see the numbers fall in real time on the screen. Currently, as seen on the screen, they are normal “.

If the statistics are anything to go by, local authorities are on their guard. ” All services in the Zaporizhia region are on standby, both the Ministry of Emergency Situations and the regional military administration, working 24 hours a day, seven days a week for the past four weeks. Taras Tyshchenko, representative of the Ministry of Health of Zaporizhia explains. In the case of a more serious situation, she creates answers to all the hypotheses we present to her “.

To prevent such a situation from occurring, Ukraine, like the IAEA, is reiterating its demand for a demilitarized zone around the plant. A request has so far remained a dead letter.