There are diesel generators at the plant, which also has alternative water sources. Russia and Ukraine blame each for shelling the facility. The biggest nuclear risk is from overheating nuclear fuel, which could happen if the power that drives the cooling systems is cut or if there is not enough water to supply the cooling systems. Special Russian military units guard the facility and a unit of Russia's state nuclear company, Rosatom, runs the plant. Russian forces took control of the plant in early March 2022, weeks after invading Ukraine. One remains in hot shutdown, where regular levels of coolant are still required and the fuel remains reasonably hot as it continues to react. This means a reactor's temperature is below boiling point but electrical pumps moving water through the reactor core must still keep working to cool the fuel. The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has six Soviet-designed VVER-1000 V-320 water-cooled and water-moderated reactors containing Uranium 235, which has a half-life of more than 700 million years.įive of the reactors are now in cold shutdown. What nuclear material is at the Zaporizhzhia plant, what are the risks and why are Russia and Ukraine fighting over it? The plant is just 500 km (300 miles) from the site of the world's worst nuclear accident, the 1986 Chornobyl disaster. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has long warned of the risks of a disaster at Zaporizhzhia, Europe's largest nuclear plant, and urged an end to fighting in the area. The head of the United Nations' atomic watchdog, Rafael Grossi, will visit the area this week to check "a significant discrepancy" in water level data at the reservoir, used to fill a pond for cooling the reactors at the nuclear plant. MOSCOW, June 13 (Reuters) - A disastrous breach in Ukraine's huge Kakhovka dam has further stoked alarm over the safety of the nearby Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which has for months been a target of shelling due to its proximity to military front lines.
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