Nuclear regulator orders to transfer last power unit of Zaporizhia NPP to cold shutdown
The State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine by its order limited the operation of power unit No. 5 of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant (NPP), which is under Russian occupation, to a "cold shutdown" state.
The corresponding decision was made on June 8, according to the regulator's Facebook page on Friday.
Earlier, in accordance with the orders of the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate dated August 18, 2022 and February 10, 2023, the operation of all other power units No. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 was limited to the "cold shutdown" state.
"Energoatom issued an order of the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate to limit the operation of ZNPP power unit No. 5, as an object of state supervision, to the cold shutdown state," it says.
As the regulator explained, the order was issued due to the impossibility of eliminating the identified violations of nuclear and radiation safety requirements, in particular, the requirements for emergency cooling systems for nuclear fuel and heat removal.
When adopting the order, the inspectorate took into account, among other things, the information of PrJSC Ukrhydroenergo about the depletion of the Kakhovka reservoir as a result of the Russian occupiers blowing up the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant, as well as the continuation of periodic shelling by the occupiers of the ZNPP industrial site and adjacent territories, as a result of which ZNPP overhead communication lines with the energy system of Ukraine are damaged.
In addition, the regulator pointed to the termination of the data transmission from the Automated Radiation Monitoring System of ZNPP, which performs the function of early warning, from May 17, 2023, and the degradation of the emergency response system at the ZNPP site and outside it under the conditions of temporary occupation of ZNPP by the Russian Federation, part of Zaporizhia and Kherson regions.
"In the context of the loss of the main design source of spraying ponds, it is necessary to immediately begin transferring ZNPP power unit No. 5 to the cold shutdown state, while the design mode of operation of the necessary cooling systems is still maintained," the order says.
The regulator noted that the limitation of operation of power unit No. 5 of the Zaporizhia NPP will be in effect until the identified violations are eliminated.
