Chornobyl power loss violates safety pillar, but no critical impact on safety – IAEA

15:54, 09.03.2022 1 min read

Ukraine has informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) about power loss at Chornobyl nuclear power plant, the IAEA is concerned about this fact, but does not yet see a critical threat.

"[IAEA Director General] Rafael Grossi says [this] development violates key safety pillar on ensuring uninterrupted power supply; in this case IAEA sees no critical impact on safety," the organization said in Twitter on Wednesday.

According to it, the IAEA considers the heat load of spent fuel storage pool and volume of cooling water at Chornobyl NPP sufficient for efficient heat removal without need for electrical supply.

After NPC Ukrenergo said Chornobyl NPP was de-energized on Wednesday afternoon, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that standby diesel generators would provide power to the plant and its facilities for 48 hours, after which "the cooling system of the spent nuclear fuel storage facility would turn off, which would threaten radiation leak."