All of Ukraine NPPs, most of HPPs, TPPs off the grid

23 Nov 2022

Source: Agencies

By Al Mayadeen English 

Several of Ukraine’s major nuclear, thermal, and hydroelectric power plants, caused a power outage in a vast area of land in the country.

Cars are parked in front of a shop, near residential blocks which were de-energized after a Russian attack in Kiev, Ukraine, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2022 (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

All of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants and the majority of its hydroelectric and thermal power plants were temporarily off the grid on Wednesday after they were rendered de-energized, the country’s energy ministry said.

“Today’s missile attack has led to a temporary blackout of all nuclear power plants and most thermal power plants and hydroelectric power plants,” the ministry said.

https://twitter.com/AZgeopolitics/status/1595457983785627648?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1595457983785627648%7Ctwgr%5Ec215822842eab7d6b72742acc77870433284ca32%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fenglish.almayadeen.net%2Fnews%2Fpolitics%2Fall-of-ukraine-npps-most-of-hpps-tpps-off-the-grid

Reportedly, the South Ukraine Nuclear Plant in Mykolaiv Region was reported to have switched into emergency mode first. Later, the same was reported for Rivne and Khmelnytsky nuclear plants in the country’s west. This was attributed to the Ukrainian side’s failure to supply its substations, leading to a decrease in power consumption.

Eventually, all of the Ukrainian nuclear power plants were off the grid after the authorities took them off the energy system, and it was not known whether engineers would be assembling energy circuits and reactivating some of the nuclear power plants.

Internet connectivity in the various oblasts. Tweeting activity from Ukraine may be light today. pic.twitter.com/4XMLKTCGZa

— Big Serge ☦️🇺🇸🇷🇺 (@witte_sergei) November 23, 2022

However, the vast majority of electricity consumers throughout the country were de-energized, the government said. It noted that emergency shutdowns occur and stressed interrupting in heating and water supply due to a power outage.

This comes days after an adviser to the head of Rosenergoatom, a subsidiary of Russian state nuclear energy corporation Rosatom, said that further Ukrainian shelling of the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant may lead to a real nuclear disaster.

“A nuclear disaster could take place. A nuclear reactor is working, its power supply stops because of the shelling… How could a reactor be cooled down? Not cooling it down could lead to the reactor’s overheating, and then it could result in a disaster,” Renat Karchaa, an advisor to Rosenergoatom’s CEO, told Russian broadcaster Channel One.

🇷🇺🇺🇦⚛️💡Еmergency shutdown of Ukrainian nuclear power plants

First, the South Ukraine Nuclear Plant in Mykolaiv Region was reported to have switched into emergency mode. Later, the same was reported for Rivne and Khmelnytsky nuclear plants in western Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/N8MVwnX3RK

— rybar_en (@rybar_en) November 23, 2022

On Sunday, the Russian Defense Ministry said that Ukrainian troops subjected the Zaporozhye NPP to massive artillery shelling, damaging strategic facilities by conducting strikes with 155-caliber NATO ammunition in the first mass shelling since late September.

A team of experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) examined the damage and, while confirming its “widespread” scale, said that they had found no immediate nuclear safety threats. However, IAEA head Rafael Grossi said he had “intensified consultations” on the creation of a protection zone around the plant.

IAEA experts found widespread damage done to the territory of the ZNPP, the agency announced on Monday in a statement after four IAEA nuclear safety, security, and safeguards experts visited the ZNPP.

The four-man team carried out the visit to the ZNPP after heavy shelling hit the facility over the weekend, the UN nuclear watchdog announced, noting that the personnel at the ZNPP have already started repair works.

“The status of the six reactor units is stable, and the integrity of the spent fuel, the fresh fuel, and the low, medium, and high-level radioactive waste in their respective storage facilities was confirmed,” the statement added.

Ukrainian troops have shelled the ZNPP with massive artillery shelling, damaging strategic facilities, the same advisor said.

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The Kiev regime planned to use IAEA team as ‘human shields’ – Russia

September 01, 2022

RT reports:

The Russian military has provided new details on the botched Ukrainian raid on the Zaporozhye nuclear plant

Kiev forces wanted to seize the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant in a daring military raid and use the personnel of the UN nuclear watchdog as “human shields” to maintain control over the facility, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed on Thursday.

The botched raid came shortly before a team of experts with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) – including the organization’s head, Rafael Grossi – arrived at the plant for an inspection. According to the Russian military, multiple Ukrainian “saboteur groups” crossed the Kakhovka Reservoir in speedboats and barges near the plant early in the morning, but were intercepted and destroyed by Russian troops and National Guard forces.

“Obviously, if the operation of the Kiev regime to seize the station was a success, the head of the IAEA, [Rafael] Grossi, and the experts of the mission would become a ‘human shield’ for Ukrainian saboteurs to prevent any attempts to destroy them by the Russian armed forces,” the Russian MoD said in a statement.

The operation aimed at capturing the nuclear power plant appears to have been “planned in advance by Zelensky’s regime,” the Russian military suggested. Moreover, the delay in Grossi’s visit to the installation, originally planned for August 31, stemmed from the Ukrainians’ need for more time to get ready for that “military provocation,” it alleged.

The ultimate goal of the operation was seizing control of the plant, while the presence of the IAEA team would have allowed the “saboteurs” to not only take cover from any potential Russian actions, but also to cement the new “status quo,” the military said. The success of the operation would have likely been reinforced by a “new wave of loud statements from Washington and European capitals, calling upon Russia to establish a ‘demilitarized zone’ around the nuclear plant, with IAEA observers guarded by Ukrainian troops,” it asserted.

“In this regard, we fully understand the complete silence of all Western sponsors of the Zelensky regime, which de-facto confirms their tacit participation in the preparation of today’s provocation at the Zaporozhye plant,” the military concluded.