A huge Ukrainian nuclear power plant owned by Putin’s kidnappers has been shut down after a “total shutdown” fueled fears of a radioactive disaster.
According to a Ukrainian engineer licensed to operate under Russian control, operations in Zaporizhia “completely stopped” shortly before 4 am on Sunday.
A heroic 48-hour battle to restore power to the site followed, against “low” odds according to international nuclear monitors stationed there.
According to the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), shelling near the station on Friday cut the power plant from the electrical grid and prevented its safe operation.
Combined with the “insufficient” supply of the war, this “greatly increased the risk of a nuclear accident,” warned the head of the agency, Rafael Grossi, calling the situation “completely unacceptable.”
Low-power reactors risk failure in energy-intensive coolants and other nuclear safety features.
This was one of the factors in the 2011 meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan. At this time, the diesel generator power supply was started by the earthquake, and then flooded by the tsunami.
Five of Zaporizhzhia’s six reactors had previously been shut down, but the sixth remained in “island mode”, producing enough power for cooling and safety mechanisms.
Months of bombing gradually cut the plant’s main power lines, leaving only one in early September.
But according to UN experts stationed at the factory, a fire broke out nearby on Monday and by Friday the factory was said to have been completely destroyed by further shelling.
Officials said this caused the final reactor to “operate at a very low power level” using generators and reportedly only had enough diesel to last 10 days at the power station.
In response to the development, Grossi said: “Currently, it is unlikely that we will be able to restore ocean energy.”
However, after nearly two days of work, Ukrainian engineers were able to restore communication lines to the station’s power system, giving it enough power to initiate the shutdown.
Energoatom, the national agency responsible for Ukraine’s nuclear power network, said on Telegram:
Grossi called for an “immediate cessation of all bombing in the region”, which he said was “completely unacceptable” and “unbearable”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday that the threat of Russia taking over six reactors in Zaporizhia was like “six Chernobyls.”
Experts play down concerns that an accident at a nuclear power plant could lead to a repeat of the 1986 disaster.
The European Atomic Energy Community said last month that such incidents “mainly affect Ukrainians living nearby.”
But the “worst case scenario” is similar to Fukushima, where radiation permanently displaced 110,000 people and killed one.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces continued their breakthrough in the Kharkov area over the weekend, killing thousands of Putin’s soldiers.
The Russian Defense Ministry confirms the withdrawal from the main military bases in Izium and Kupyansk, the withdrawal from the third-largest city of Balakriya, wants to “intensify efforts” in the areas controlled by the Putin-backed separatists, it said.
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Western intelligence said a strong Ukrainian counterattack forced a large-scale withdrawal.
“Russian forces were probably taken by surprise. The sector was only lightly held and Ukrainian forces captured or surrounded several towns,” the Defense Ministry said.
The official added that Russian forces continued to fight around the city, but were “increasingly isolated” and likely to run out of supplies soon.
President Zelensky said on Sunday that some 700 square miles of territory had been liberated in the past 11 days in a general counteroffensive in the region.
US military analysts have suggested that Washington’s estimate that more than 965 square miles of land was seized may represent a conservative figure.
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Source: Metro
I am Michael Melvin, an experienced news writer with a passion for uncovering stories and bringing them to the public. I have been working in the news industry for over five years now, and my work has been published on multiple websites. As an author at 24 News Reporters, I cover world section of current events stories that are both informative and captivating to read.