Two nuclear power plants (NPP) in Ukraine, Chernobyl and Europe's largest nuclear power plant, Zaporizhzhia, are no longer sending data to the UN atomic watchdog.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Wednesday (9/3) announced that it had lost contact with the active nuclear plant in Zaporizhzhia, declaring that it was no longer receiving remote data transmissions from security systems installed to monitor nuclear materials.
A similar situation was reported at Chernobyl, the site of the 1986 nuclear disaster. Electricity access to Chernobyl also worried experts. The reason is, electricity is still needed to the Chernobyl location to power the cooling pool used to store radioactive fuel. In theory, if there is no cooling, this could cause the spent nuclear fuel to overheat.
The IAEA assures Chernobyl's disconnection from the power grid will not have a critical impact on critical safety functions at the site. However, they noted that this situation would put even more pressure on employees at the facility, and could possibly cause further damage to operational radiation safety on site.
Quoted from IFL Science, Zaporizhzhya is in slightly better shape. This facility is still powered by a number of high-voltage power lines outside the location. It also has additional off-site power lines and a backup diesel engine.
However, the loss of communication with the two nuclear power plants is still worrying because it leaves international nuclear authorities unaware of important safety data. Given that there is a war raging around the two factories, this information is very much needed.
"The long-distance transmission of data from IAEA protective equipment located at nuclear sites around the world is an important component of our safeguard implementation, in Ukraine and globally," said IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi.
"Such systems are installed at several facilities in Ukraine, including all nuclear power plants, and allow us to monitor nuclear materials and activity at these locations in the absence of our inspectors."
Both nuclear power plants in Ukraine recently fell into the hands of the invading Russian army. Worryingly, the reason for the interruption in the transmission is unclear. The IAEA said it continues to receive such data from other nuclear facilities in Ukraine.
The Chernobyl nuclear power plant fell into Russian hands at the start of the Russian invasion on February 24. Then the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was taken over on March 4, following a fire that broke out at the facility during the shooting incident.
Nuclear experts are very concerned about Zaporizhzhia and Chernobyl. But they cautioned that the two current situations should not be overestimated and that the risk of a nuclear accident is currently low. This statement is reinforced by comments from Tony Roulstone from the Department of Engineering at the University of Cambridge.
"This (situation) is not as alarming as Fukushima because the Chernobyl reactor has been shut down for a long time and the decay heat will be greatly reduced. However, this is an unhealthy situation for the staff at the site and the surrounding area," he said.