The ZAES cooler began to evaporate, Ukraine says that it is mined. There is no threat to the reactor after undermining the dam so far - Ozharovsky

The shallow of the Kakhovsky reservoir due to the undermining of the dams of the hydroelectric power station causes concerns primarily because of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, which took water from it to fill its pond-cooler and spray basins. Despite the fact that the station is in the "cold stop" mode, water is still necessary for it. As the physicist-nuclear Andrei Ozharovsky explained to The Insider, now there are other ways to fill the cooler with a reservoir and serious danger has not yet loomed on the horizon. But everything can change if the dam of the cooler itself is undermined - according to Ukrainian intelligence, the Russian side has already mined it. At the same time, the evaporation of the cooler pond continues.

“Despite the fact that the ZAES has not been electricity for several months, it still needs access to water and electricity for cooling and performing other important functions of preservation and safety, as well as to avoid the risk of potential fuel melting and emitting radioactive material,” the international agency on atomic energy (Magate) dated June 14, when in Kakhovsky , when in Kakhovsky The reservoir was still water.

At the moment, on June 21, the reservoir is already empty, this is confirmed by satellite pictures. Currently, the water from the rescue canal of the nearby Zaporizhzhya TPP is nourishing the spraying pools of the ZAES, which cool five stopped reactors and the exhaust fuel, and also supports the filled pool-lady, mainly compensating for evaporation. The sixth reactor is also cooling - this is the last reactor, which should now be translated into a “cold stop” mode. So far, the Russian side has not done this.

Together, the drain channel and a large cooler pond can provide cooling water for several months, provided that they will remain intact, the Magate statement said. At the same time, there are serious concerns that this condition will not be observed: the head of the Main Directorate of Ukraine Kirill Budanov admits that the threat of undermining or an accident at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant exists, since, according to him, the Russian side mined the cooler.

There is no danger until the cooler and spray fountains have been destroyed

According to the nuclear physicist Andrei Ozharovsky, there is no serious danger in the near future for the ZAES until the cooling of the cooler is destroyed and spray fountains that cool the aging fuel basins are working-the latter release heat regardless of the operation of the reactors.

Photo: AFP

Yes, the inevitable after the destruction of the dam of the Kakhovsky reservoir happened - it ceased to exist. The Dnieper flows at a lower level. For the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, nothing has changed yet. The cooler reservoir itself, which is separated from the Kakhovsky reservoir by the dam, is currently stable. I can draw your attention to the application of the IAEA No. 166, which claims that in the short and medium-term perspective of the cooler, the cooler is stable, and we are talking about months. The Magate also indicates that the coolery reservoir can be fed not only from the Dnieper, for which it would be required to build pumping stations, but also from the tanks located above the Zaporizhzhya TPP, which also has a dumping water channel, which can be directed to the reservoir-cooler. You can still pump up from the Dnieper, but so far no one is doing this, and this requires construction. You can also get water by gravity, which is provided for by the current structures of the Zaporizhzhya TPP. And another method of recharge is artesian wells, but the Magate writes that it is necessary to check their accuracy and sufficiency.

All attention is now aimed at the condition of the dam, which separates the cooler reservoir from the already non-existent Kakhovsky reservoir. If something happens there, there will be quite serious problems, the cooler reservation will be lowered. What can happen there? The same undermining the dam or the inoperability of the descent structures. If I understand correctly, there are gateways that are provided for by the project and which lower the water from the cooler reservoir. Recently, the issue of the possible mining of the same dams-cooler, and this is alarming news, has been discussing .

All this is not of paramount importance exactly because the reactors of the Zaporizhzhya station are stopped and do not produce energy. Most of them are in the cold stop. The fifth reactor of the fifth block will now be transferred to cold stops and this means that the cooler itself is not so important for residual cooling. What needs to be cooled? Ending to the exposure of the designed nuclear fuel, which release heat regardless of the operation of the reactors. And the reactors themselves are warm enough. All this is done on the basis of spraying pools that are not directly related to the cooler reservoir. There are cooling systems, these fountains, which can ensure cooling reactors and pools of exposure to the worked out nuclear fuel. Then you can discuss whether these spraying pools will be destroyed. The nuclear power plant in the center of the military conflict is an extremely dangerous thing, even if this station is in a state of cold stop.

"Problems will arise if someone wants to restart energy production at ZAES"

But here, rather, problems will not arise for stopped reactors, and if suddenly someone wants to restart energy production at the ZAES. Reactors 1, 2, 3 and 4, similar to the fact that they are installed on the Rostov, Balakovo and Kalinin stations of Russia, depend on the cooler and without its existence, cannot be launched in any way. For them, this is not a problem, but really death. These are really old Soviet reactors, very dangerous, which, of course, Ukraine can decide to close when they return control of the station.

The fifth and sixth reactors can be rested even without a cooler reservoir, yet their cooling is carried out due to tower gradiles. But again, these are questions of the distant future, when the conditions for launching the nuclear power plant are created. Although it is possible that Ukraine will choose a nuclear script - it is much less dangerous and even cheaper to receive electricity from renewable sources, to use the energy of the sun and wind. I know that such discussions are underway. It is possible that the restoration of energy will be based not on nuclear power plants that are vulnerable to terrorists or during military operations, but on renewable energy. Agree, the capture of a solar power plant does not cause any problem for residents of the country and the environment.

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