Attack of Ukrainian Armed Forces drones on the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant: a nuclear physicist told in what case to expect trouble

“In addition to the reactors, the station also has a storage facility for spent nuclear fuel and other dangerous objects”

The Ukrainian Armed Forces dropped a shell-free explosive device from a drone onto the critical infrastructure facility of the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant, the press service of the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant reported. It exploded five meters from the fence where the diesel fuel tanks are located. We asked nuclear physicist Andrei Ozharovsky to comment on this message.

“At the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, out of six reactors, five are now in cold shutdown mode,” says Andrei Ozharovsky. – They are not so sensitive to loss of external power supply. One reactor is in hot shutdown mode. It operates at 1% power, producing steam for its own needs. This power unit is precisely sensitive to disconnection of external power supply.

Zaporozhye NPP, as you know, has not produced electricity for a long time; it consumes it. Electricity is supplied via the Dneprovskaya line at 750 kilovolts from the right bank of the Dnieper. It is impossible to “turn off” the station at once, since its operation is based on a nuclear chain reaction. It is very important that the cooling of the reactors is continuous. And this requires power supply.

If the station is disconnected from external networks, backup diesel generators are turned on urgently. There are 20 diesel generators on the site, three at each power unit. Plus two more diesel engines are installed to meet the station’s needs.

They all run on diesel fuel, which is stored in tanks. Five meters from the fence where the fuel storage facility is located, a Ukrainian drone dropped an explosive device on March 14.

“It is already known that the explosive device was shell-free, which means that there were no flying fragments that could have pierced the fuel tanks. It was great luck that we managed to avoid a big fire. I would like to believe that electronic warfare equipment is involved there. And the station itself is protected. In addition to the reactors, there is also a storage facility for spent nuclear fuel and other dangerous facilities.

IAEA experts are constantly present at nuclear power plants, monitoring and recording everything that happens. They live on the territory of the station and eat here. In the morning they attend planning meetings, they have the opportunity to visit control panels and communicate with operators. Information about the release of an explosive device from a Ukrainian drone was immediately transferred to the IAEA.

The International Atomic Energy Agency, in turn, confirmed that they are aware of the attack on the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant. The agency promised to publish an official comment tomorrow, March 15.

ZNPP director Yuriy Chernichuk said that the plant’s equipment and personnel were not damaged. No excess background radiation was recorded.