Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Warns Of Potential Chernobyl Disaster Due To Power Cut

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Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Warns Of Potential Chernobyl Disaster Due To Power Cut
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Mar 10
2022
Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister warns of potential Chernobyl tragedy due to power interruption but IAEA maintains situation is not severe. After shelling severed power to the Ukrainian facility, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister, Iryna Vereschuk, warned ABC's Four Corners that the world confronts a potential nuclear disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power station. "Last time it was one reactor, today it’s four and none of them have power," Ms Vereschuk, said, adding that Russian military activity had restricted access to the facility. "It may be too late tomorrow if Russia does not take this seriously and does not allow our repair personnel to pass." Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine's foreign minister, asked for a truce to resolve the power outage and claimed reserve diesel generators could run the facility for 48 hours, but he was concerned about radiation leaks after that. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of the United Nations, on the other hand, stated it was informed of the power outage at the nuclear facility but that it had no "critical impact on safety." The commission, however, stated that the plant's construction violated a "critical safety pillar on ensuring uninterrupted power supply." The agency had previously stated that it had lost contact with sensors at the plant. The Ukrainian National Power Company, UKRENERGO, published a statement claiming that the Chernobyl electrical plant had been entirely severed from the power grid and had no power supply due to "Russian Occupiers." The 20,000 spent fuel rods stored at the site are a major issue. The Ukrainian energy regulator, Energoatom, had a grimmer view than IAEA, saying the 20,000 spent fuel rods at the site needed constant cooling, using power. The IAEA stated that due to the heat load of spent fuel and the volume of cooling water on site, cooling may take place without the use of power. Ms Vereschuk said her Russian counterparts had not reacted to urgent requests asking access to the Chernobyl site, speaking to the ABC from the strongly secured presidential headquarters in central Kyiv. "This is a threat to not only Ukraine, but Russia and the entire globe," she stated.
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