Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant will not be absolutely safe when stopped - former Minister of Energy Orzhel

Oleksiy Orzhel, former Minister of Energy and Environmental Protection, stated this on Espresso.

"Transferring the ZNPP to cold mode is an absolutely correct decision, given the fact that operation in such conditions creates threats. Active operation creates even greater threats because there may be excesses in the field. We see that the personnel are under pressure and the muzzles of machine guns. Rosatom  is a terrorist there, because no one invited them, and they carry out some operations there," he said.

In Orzhel's opinion, the best thing would be the least load on the ZNPP and its transfer to the safest possible mode.

"On the other hand, nuclear materials are stored at the ZNPP - spent nuclear fuel, it is also in the reactors, there is a reaction and this must be controlled. This does not mean that the ZNPP will become an absolutely safe facility when it is transferred to cold mode. An important point  is to provide for one's own needs and what is being done to restore power lines - to ensure the cooling of the first circuit, so that the second circuit, which provides cooling, works. In this case, reducing the threats of active operation of the ZNPP is a necessary decision from the point of view of general safety," he concluded.