The world needs it “Review Nuclear Safety”– instructed the Minister of Energy of Ukraine German Haluchchenko, describing the risks in Zaporizhzhya, where the plant has already been damaged five times. “This is a question for all the countries of the world.”he said in an interview with AFP on Monday evening as part of his visit to Paris for a conference in support of Ukraine.
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German Haluchchenko is coming both to ask for equipment to help Ukrainians survive the winter, when more than 40% of the energy infrastructure was destroyed in the last two months, and to prepare for the future and reconstruction. The country depends on nuclear energy for more than 50% of its electricity production, and there is no intention to give it up. “We have new power plant projects, already signed contracts, and we will continue nuclear because we have a lot of experience and thousands of specialists.”he said.
No one thought about it, because all observed risks were random. »
Minister of Energy of Ukraine Herman Halushchenko
On the other hand, according to the Ukrainian minister, it is urgent to revise the civil nuclear safety manuals, which, according to him, did not foresee what is happening in Ukraine. “No one thought about it because all the risks were accidental”he says, including the crash of the plane and the reactor’s ability to withstand it. “We have to consider the military threats, it is absolutely new not only for us, but for the whole world, we have to think about it together (…) This war completely changes our vision of nuclear safety and security.”he said. “What we’re seeing, and it’s not just a Ukrainian nuclear security issue, is that any missile can fly a thousand miles and hit a nuclear reactor. (…) This situation absolutely forces us to reconsider what we should do from a security point of view.”
Zaporizhia, Ukraine’s and Europe’s largest nuclear power plant with six reactors, is under Russian occupation in the east of the country. Discussions on the demilitarization of the area have stalled, and the area around the area continues to be bombed. “They (Russian forces) The lines connecting Zaporizhia to the grid were bombed several times, and the factory was blacked out five times.the minister calculates.
However, even a nuclear power plant that has been shut down, as in the case of Zaporizhia since September, needs a constant power supply to cool the fuel. Every time, “Diesel Generators Started” and: “This is a Fukushima scenario.” which began, the minister elaborated, referring to the disaster in Japan in 2011, where the Fukushima power plant went out of its generators after an earthquake, followed by a tsunami. “They are bombing the Ukrainian lines, the factory is running its diesel generators, and that means we are one step closer to a crash.”, he said. The generators have fuel reserves for ten days.
“Crazy Game”
“It’s a crazy game about nuclear security (…) it’s a dangerous game”, he said. Security in Zaporozhye is provided by Ukrainian personnel who live according to the minister “Every day under pressure, moral and physical”Not to mention fatigue and episodes where, according to him, it could happen that technicians were shot by snipers while fixing lines.
“Should we be afraid of a missile attack on Rivne or Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plant?” I don’t know, I wouldn’t be surprised if that happens because we’ve already had a missile fall within a hundred meters of a reactor in southern Ukraine, accidentally or not. But when you use 100 rockets, accidents can happen and rockets fall all over the place.”adds German Haluchchenko.
Source: Le Figaro
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.