Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant engineer explains how Fukushima disaster could be repeated there

One of the station's engineers, who wished to remain anonymous, said this in an interview with BBC News Ukraine, which was published today, August 13, 2022.

According to him, if the last of the power transmission lines are broken, the cooling of the nuclear reactors will stop - and then either Russia can switch the ZNPP, which is the largest in Europe, to its own power system, or a nuclear disaster can happen.

"A nuclear power plant cannot work into nowhere. It must give electricity somewhere. If suddenly all consumers disappear - the plant "chokes", the power units are shut down in an emergency, and a so-called blackout begins. This means that no power unit gives power "outside". Maybe it seems like no big deal, but there is one "but". The power unit needs electricity to run the pumps that cool the nuclear fuel in the reactor or in the holding pool. This is a very long process. Without this cooling, there will be a terrible nuclear disaster. We need at least one power unit to work for any power system. Firstly, it will give us a chance to start other power units someday. Secondly, it is necessary to prevent a nuclear disaster," said an employee of Zaporizhzhya NPP, located in the occupied city of Energodar Zaporizhzhya region

According to him, the Russians are well aware of this and therefore deliberately bring the blackout closer.

"They know this. And what are they doing? They break the high-voltage lines connecting the ZNPP with the energy system of Ukraine. And at the same time they tell us: "If the neo-Nazis from the  Ukrainian Armed Forces break your last line, we are ready to present you with help." What will their "help" consist of? They will give us a plan to "connect" the ZANP with the power system of the Russian Federation through the ZANP-Melitopol-Dzhankoi line. If we suddenly "go to 0", i.e. a blackout happens, we will need any power from the "side" to power the pumps to cool the nuclear fuel. That is, the Russians specially arrange a blackout for us, so that they can "help" us later. Right now it is very close. Maybe tomorrow, maybe the day after tomorrow, they will unravel the last line," the engineer explained.

He calls the breakdown of all voltage supply lines from the ZNPP "the most likely scenario."

"If the plant can't produce power, it stops. But we can't just shut down the plant. It takes a lot of energy to power the pumps to cool the reactor...Nuclear fuel is always hot. Even if it's spent, it has elements that decay, and so there is always a release of energy. If heat is not removed from nuclear fuel, it overheats. When fuel overheats, it expands, just like any material when heated. The fuel cells that contain it crack. Releases into water and the atmosphere there are quite a lot of radioactive gases. This is the same radioactive iodine. In addition to gases, the remains of spent fuel and a lot of radioactive isotopes of various metals with a very long half-life get into the water," the energy expert notes.

Therefore, if a nuclear disaster occurs at the Zaporizhia NPP, says the engineer, it will not be similar to the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, where the reactor exploded due to excessive acceleration during tests, but to the second largest nuclear accident of modern times - at the Japanese nuclear power plant "Fukushima-1" " in 2011, where after an earthquake, a powerful tsunami wave stopped all plant operations, including the cooling system pumps, and the reactor melted down from overheating.

"It wouldn't be like Chernobyl. It's closer to what happened at Fukushima," says an employee of the Energodar NPP.

At the same time, the IAEA is currently limited to purely "deep concern", concludes the engineer.

"There is no help from the world in this situation. Every year, missions from the IAEA and other international organizations on atomic energy come to us. But when this happened, they all stand aside. The most we hear are words of "deep concern", - emphasizes the energy engineer.