For six months and the outbreak of the conflict, it has undoubtedly been one of the most scrutinized sites in Ukraine: the nuclear power plant of Zaporijjia, the largest in Europe. For several weeks, a sign of the excitement around the site, the Ukrainian power plant, occupied by the Russian army, has been regularly disconnected from the electricity network “after new bombardments in the area”, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. However, the plant continues to operate “thanks to an emergency line”. Besides, theIAEA must report on Tuesday, September 6 on the situation of the plant, and take stock of the radiological risk for months.
However, a key question remains: why do we not officially know who is bombing the strategic site in southern Ukraine? In fact, it is difficult to know where exactly the bombings come from. The Ukrainian personnel, who operate the reactors under the supervision of the Russian authorities, have on several occasions directly accused Russia of being responsible for these artillery fires. These bombings heavily damaged the electrical supply lines.
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The Ukrainians also seem to have aimed at a few targets in the immediate vicinity with their drones, which are much more precise. It must be said that the plant itself, like its surroundings, are full of Russian military equipment which bombarded, among other things, the town of Nikopol, on the other side of the Dnieper. Despite everything, it is difficult to see what interest the Ukrainians attack a plant that continues to supply energy to the country. Before the war, the Zaporijjia power station produced up to 20% of the electricity consumed in Ukraine.
On the other hand, there is an immediate interest for the Russians in cutting the supply and service lines of the plant and in isolating it from the Ukrainian network. This is the essential first phase in order to eventually be able to reconnect the 6 reactors to the Russian network and supply electricity including Crimea, which they have occupied since 2014.
These bombings have caused the world to fear a major accident. The reactors themselves are protected by a bombproof containment. In this regard, it is not so much the bombardments in themselves that are dangerous, but rather the interruptions in the electricity supply. Isolating the plant from the Ukrainian network prevents food normal reactor cooling circuits. Reactor no. 6, still in operation, seems to be able to rely only on itself to operate the cooling circuit pumps.
There are also emergency generators, running on diesel, but we knows not their condition, we don’t even know if they are functional. However, if the cooling circuit of a reactor no longer works, the risk is immediate. the heart of the reactor begins to melt in less than an hour and a half. It would be an accident of the type of that of Fukushima in Japan in 2011. For the moment, no one knows the time that the Russians will take to reconnect the plant to their network and thus get their hands on the largest nuclear power plant in Europe.