“The generators were not damaged” and “can operate” the Zaporijjia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, reassured Sunday, September 4 on franceinfo Emmanuelle Galichet, teacher-researcher in nuclear physics at the National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts while a reactor of the plant stopped Saturday, after a cut of electricity.
franceinfo: Is it the bombardments that cause these electrical breakdowns?
Emmanuelle Galichet: The bombings are going to cause a loss of power from the outside power line and at that point you have emergency reactor shutdowns. This is automatic as soon as the lines fall. It is the high voltage cables that are damaged every time.
What is the major risk?
A nuclear power plant needs water and electricity to operate. These two elements are there to cool the heart, to evacuate the heat. So, as soon as you have no more electricity, you no longer cool, and you can heat up inside and really go, in extreme cases, towards the fusion of the core.
Are the emergency power supplies sufficient to ensure normal operation and secure the plant?
These are still obviously degraded conditions. This is the second barrier, or even the third barrier of defense, which has been put in place with the generators. But it works. The tests have been done. If they are there, they can work. A generator can provide electrical power to a reactor. On Zaporijjia, you have 20 of them. We are still largely covered for the power supply.
These generators are not damaged?
For now, it seems not, according to the information we have. We are told that the generators were not damaged. This has never happened since the beginning of the war. Both Ukrainians and Russians are familiar with the plant. They know where the pain points are. So far, they haven’t touched them. We are safe from nothing. Zero risk, unfortunately, does not exist.
Regarding power cuts, can the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) take care of the repairs?
She will surely be able to take care of it, but so will the operator. They are absolutely completely competent in their installation. They know her well. They know how to do maintenance on it, they know how to do repairs. The AEIA will not add anything. It is there to really inspect the places where there is a risk of radioactivity.
How many times, finally, can a power station be disconnected, reconnected, shaken by bombardments?
A nuclear power plant throughout its life has a huge amount of maintenance. When you perform maintenance actions, you disconnect it from the network and reconnect it afterwards. It is a banal action. In fact, disconnecting and reconnecting does not damage the circuits, these are actions that are carried out very very regularly throughout the life of a plant. What could damage and weaken it are bombardments on, for example, the containment enclosures which could be weakened, which did not take place today.