The plan to connect the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant to the Russian network worries Ukraine

The Ukrainian nuclear agency is concerned about a potential connection of the Zaporijjia power plant to Crimea.

© ALEXANDER ERMOCHENKO/REUTERS

Text by: RFI Follow

2 mins

In southern Ukraine, the shadow of a nuclear disaster still hangs.

At the end of the week, missile fire had fallen a few steps from the reactors, but the origin of these strikes has still not been able to be determined.

The Ukrainian nuclear agency is worried about a potential connection of the plant to Crimea, a region annexed by Moscow in 2014. The connection process could be risky and Ukrainian nuclear officials are sounding the alarm.

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Located in southern Ukraine, on the banks of the Dnieper River, the Zaporijjia nuclear power plant is the largest in Europe.

With a capacity of 6,000 megawatts, it provides 20% of Ukraine's electricity. 

Inaugurated 37 years ago, the plant has six of the 15 Ukrainian reactors, the construction of the first began in 1979, when Ukraine was still part of the Soviet Union.

Three of the six reactors were still operational at the beginning of August, and one of them is shut down following bombardments which damaged a high voltage line. 

The Zaporizhia power plant is considered one of the safest of its generation.

Equipped with more modern technology than that of Chernobyl, its reactor building is protected by a concrete enclosure, lined inside with several concrete walls, and designed to withstand extreme shocks, such as explosions.

However, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister has warned that if the bombings cause the explosion of the plant, it will be 10 times worse than Chernobyl, while the International Atomic Energy Agency warns of " 

the risk very real nuclear disaster 

”.

A dangerous connection

To connect the Zaporijjia power station to the territories occupied by the Russians, it would be necessary to cut all the high-voltage lines which feed it before being able to reconnect it.

At the end of last week,

missile strikes

have already damaged two of the three high-voltage lines of the power station and would deprive two Ukrainian regions of electricity.

This situation is reminiscent of that of Fukushima in Japan in 2011. There, the earthquake had deprived the power plant of its power, which had caused the reactors to explode.

The Zaporizhia power plant came close to this case according to some atomic energy experts.

The situation could become very uncertain, according to the Ukrainian agency, because the Russians would be temporarily forced to connect the plant to diesel-powered generators before they could hook it up.

To reduce the risk of nuclear disasters, kyiv relied on the International Atomic Energy Agency earlier this week.

Ukraine would like a demilitarized zone to be set up around the plant.

The international agency nevertheless assured that there was currently no immediate threat to nuclear safety, but reiterated its deep concern about the situation of the plant.

►Also listen: Morning guest - Zaporijjia power plant: "A risk of nuclear disaster as great as Chernobyl"

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