Ukraine's nuclear power plants have been caught in the crossfire, both politically and literally, since Russia's invasion began. But, for the first time in history, fighting shut down all 15 of its nuclear reactors this week.
The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), located near the Ukrainian city of Enerhodar, is Europe's largest nuclear power plant and has been in Russian hands since March. As a precaution, the last operational reactor at ZNPP was shut down in September. When operational, nuclear plants contribute power to the grid, but when shut down, they suck power from it to operate crucial cooling and safety systems, implying that power outages are a serious problem.
On November 23, Russian troops shelled Ukraine's electricity infrastructure, causing outages that forced emergency diesel generators to start up at ZNPP as well as reactors
Energoatom, Ukraine's nuclear operator, claimed on its website that for the first time in the country's 40-year history, all of its nuclear power reactors were not producing power, instead depending on diesel backup generators. On November 25, access to the national grid was restored.
ZNPP’s six nuclear reactors, all fuelled by uranium-235, are a vital piece of infrastructure that Rosatom, Russia’s state nuclear energy company, has clung to since the early days of the invasion. Reports suggest that Rosatom is attempting to force Ukrainian staff at the plant to sign new contracts and join its own staff, which the majority are refusing. International Atomic Energy Agency director general Rafael Mariano Grossi says this is putting “unacceptable pressure” on staff.
Recent rumours on social media suggest that ZNPP could be returned to Ukraine as part of concessions designed to prevent a major counteroffensive against Russian forces. Those rumours were lent at least some credence by the IAEA’s claim this week that it was holding high-level consultations with Russia about implementing a “nuclear safety & security protection zone” around the ZNPP. Exactly what this would involve is unclear, and the IAEA didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Jacopo Buongiorno at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology says he is sceptical about the idea that Russia is going to return anything of value to Ukraine, but that if it did there would be long preparations needed before the plant could be restored to working condition.
“Restarting the plant would be a lengthy job. Think months, not weeks,” he says. “There are equipment and structures to repair, spare parts to acquire, staff to bring back and new staff to hire and train. A couple of reactors might be in good enough conditions to restart sooner, but for full capacity it’s likely months.”
He says that four of ZNPP’s reactors are on “cold shut down” and completely dormant, while two are being retained on “hot shut down”, a kind of standby mode. Returning just those two to working order would take months, even if the war ended tomorrow and Energoatom resumed control. Buongiorno says that the plant is operating on “shoestring” staffing levels, and that vital spare parts won’t have been delivered at the optimum rate.
Olena Pareniuk, a scientist working at the Chernobyl site, says the process of restarting a nuclear power plant is long and difficult, but that the energy supply is sorely needed by Ukraine’s citizens, who are experiencing widespread blackouts across the country.
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