Ukrainian authorities have said the decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear plant, site of the world's worst nuclear disaster, is off the power grid. Emergency generators are now supplying backup power.
However, the reserve diesel generators have only a 48-hour capacity to power the plant. In other words, Chernobyl could be 48 hours from leaking radiation: this is because once the power is cut off, it is impossible to cool the spent nuclear fuel.
Ukrainian grid operator Ukrenerho cited the national nuclear regulator as saying that without power the “parameters of nuclear and radiation safety” cannot be controlled.
Russian forces had captured the plant at the beginning of their onslaught and are in control for the last one week. The power line was damaged in the fighting and it has not been possible to carry out repairs at the plant amid fighting.
A worried French government said it was in contact with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and was urging Russia to co-operate.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba admitted that the grid supplying electricity is damaged and called for a cease-fire to allow for repairs.
The country's nuclear company Energoatom has said that there were about 20,000 spent fuel assemblies at Chernobyl that could not be kept cool amid a power outage. Their warming could lead to 'the release of radioactive substances into the environment. The radioactive cloud could be carried by wind to other regions of Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, and Europe,' it said in a statement.
Without power, ventilation systems at the plant would also not be working, exposing staff to dangerous doses of radiation, it added. Many employees are trapped in the plant since the fighting ensued.
The IAEA has urged Russian authorities to allow the 210 staff members who are being held captive at Chernobyl to leave, arguing that although radiation levels in the area are relatively low, it is necessary to ensure a 'safe rotation' of staff.
