‘ Chernobyl plant disconnected from power grid; Ukraine demands cease-fire for urgent repairs ‘

[btfc]

‘ “Because of military actions of Russian occupiers the nuclear power plant in Chornobyl was fully disconnected from the power grid. Nuclear station has no power supply,” Ukrenergo said in a statement on its official Telegram page, using Ukraine’s spelling for the plant.
Electricity is needed for cooling, ventilation and fire-extinguishing systems at the closed site. In a statement on its Facebook page, Ukrenergo also said that emergency diesel generators have been turned on but that the fuel would last for only 48 hours.

“The only electrical grid supplying the Chornobyl NPP and all its nuclear facilities occupied by Russian army is damaged,” he tweeted. “… I call on the international community to urgently demand Russia to cease fire and allow repair units to restore power supply.”
He warned that after reserve diesel generators run out of fuel, “cooling systems of the storage facility for spent nuclear fuel will stop, making radiation leaks imminent. Putin’s barbaric war puts entire Europe in danger.”
The International Atomic Energy Agency said Wednesday on Twitter that the power loss “violates [a] key safety pillar on ensuring uninterrupted power supply,” but it added that “in this case IAEA sees no critical impact on safety.” The agency said factors including the volume of cooling water at Chernobyl were “sufficient for effective heat removal without need for electrical supply.”

The IAEA also said Tuesday that it had lost contact with monitoring systems that transmit data on nuclear material at the Chernobyl plant. ‘



https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/202...ring-lost/

[Ombligo]

And by the time the IAEA sees an issue, it will be too late to correct the situation.

[Lux Interior]

These reactors have been shutdown for over twenty years. Their heat output would be minimal at this point.

While not a great idea, I think the danger is overstated.

[Tiangou]

Lux Interior wrote:
These reactors have been shutdown for over twenty years. Their heat output would be minimal at this point.

https://medium.com/extremetech-access/ch...1eb3689cb7

Chernobyl Is Heating Up Again, and Scientists Aren’t Sure Why

Recently, engineers completed the construction of the New Safe Confinement (NSC). The NSC was supposed to stabilize the site, which is still highly radioactive and full of fissile material. However, some worrying signals have emerged from the sarcophagus covering the Unit Four reactor, suggesting the remains could still heat up and leak radiation into the environment all over again.

...Meltdowns such as the one at Chernobyl, and more recently at Japan’s Fukushima, are the result of a runaway chain reaction. As uranium fuel nuclei split apart, they release neutrons that strike other uranium atoms, causing them to split as well. The ISPNPP monitors neutron levels in the wrecked Unit Four building, which still contains a molten slurry of uranium fuel rods, zirconium cladding, graphite control rods, and melted sand. The room below the Unit Four reactor was once known as 305/2, but now it’s a vat containing tons of this semiliquid nuclear material. The team estimates half of the reactor’s original fuel is still locked up inside 305/2, so it’s not great news that neutron levels have doubled in the past four years...

[Lux Interior]

Tiangou wrote:
[quote=Lux Interior]
These reactors have been shutdown for over twenty years. Their heat output would be minimal at this point.

https://medium.com/extremetech-access/ch...1eb3689cb7

Chernobyl Is Heating Up Again, and Scientists Aren’t Sure Why
Unit 4 was obliterated. As far as I know, it is not actively cooled. The loss of power would be of concern for the intact units and any spent fuel storage.