UN: Ukraine nuclear power plant loses external power link

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

BERLIN (AP) — Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the biggest in Europe, has lost its last remaining external power source as a result of renewed shelling and is now relying on emergency diesel generators, the U.N. nuclear watchdog said Saturday.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said the plant’s link to a 750-kilovolt line was cut at around 1 a.m. Saturday. It cited official information from Ukraine as well as reports from IAEA experts at the site, which is held by Russian forces.

All six reactors at the plant are shut down but they still require electricity for cooling and other safety functions. Plant engineers have begun work to repair the damaged power line and the plant’s generators — not all of which are currently being used — each have sufficient fuel for at least 10 days, the IAEA said.

“The resumption of shelling, hitting the plant’s sole source of external power, is tremendously irresponsible,” IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi said.



FILE - A Russian serviceman guards in an area of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station in territory under Russian military control, southeastern Ukraine, on May 1, 2022. Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the biggest in Europe, has lost its last remaining external power source as a result of renewed shelling and is now relying on emergency diesel generators, the U.N. nuclear watchdog said Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022. (AP Photo, File)


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-business-united-nations-international-atomic-energy-agency-3f89a12ebb3a59795c718f3e675ddc23?utm_source=homepage&utm_medium=TopNews&utm_campaign=position_04

[FalloutShelter]

1. That didn't take long.

The Crimea bridge is destroyed and now it may be that Putin has decided on passive aggressive nuclear annihilation.
The ooops.... I did not do it kind. Yeah... just an accident.

Scary shit.

[Bayard]

2. Melt down

And Putin doesn't care how many countries it hits, including his own. When it becomes imminent, NATO will have to intervene directly.

[FBaggins]

4. Not at all. It was shut down a month ago

The danger zone for a station blackout scenario is those first hours after the reactor shuts down.

This long after shut down, the reactor is producing a tiny fraction of the amount of heat. As the article notes, they aren't even using all of their backup generators.

[EndlessWire]

5. Even a shutdown core must be cooled. n/t

[FBaggins]

6. Not to the extent that loss of external power is a significant risk

Cooling a reactor that was shut down weeks ago takes very little water. A small fraction of their backup generating capacity can handle it (essentially creating quadruple+ redundancy). And even if all of them were to fail at this point mechanical water pumps could handle the job.

[Lovie777]

3. China cares . ...

Turkey and Hungary cares too. OPEC cares too longwith Putin's other allies. This will affect the whole world, and one thing about Dictators, they only care about themselves and power, and if Putin is even thinking about going forward, his allies may make sure he doesn't.