Vladimir Putin ordered his troops create Chernobyl’s’manmade disaster’. He plans to blame the Ukrainian’saboteurs to justify a further increase in his war on the ex-Soviet nation, Kyiv’s intelligence service claimed today.
Ukrainian intelligence officials claim that the Russians will carry out the terrorist attack. Russian agents moved in to the plant yesterday with a group from Belarus called’specialists’. These specialists were meant to oversee safety operations at the partly-destroyed nuclear plant.
This happened after Putin’s men removed Chernobyl’s monitoring systems that report on the state of the nuclear safety system to UN watchdog the International Atomic Energy Agency and shut off power to the plant. The water it uses to cool its fuel rods will not be able to top up itself anymore.
Experts in nuclear safety say that the generators at the plant have diesel generators. After this, water should evaporate. This could expose fuel rods and cause them to start burning. To prevent this, Russians should manually top-up the water.
The Main Intelligence Directorate of Kyiv believes that this is making the groundwork for a fake nuclear crisis, which could be blamed on Ukraine. Russian forces are said to have taken the remains of Ukrainian soldiers killed fighting at Hostomel Airport – close to Kyiv — in refrigerated trucks to Chernobyl, where they will be disguised as saboteurs.
Putin is motivated to “blackmail” the international community for providing arms to Ukraine and sanctioning Russia. His forces have been at a standstill in the face of heavy losses. The same time, further aggression against Ukraine would likely be justified by the catastrophe – almost certain to cause radioactive fallsout to fall on Russia.
Although Kyiv cannot independently verify Kyivs account, this is against the background of Russian attacks in Ukraine on nuclear reactors – in Zaporizhzhia (central Ukraine) and Kharkiv (east). Ukraine claims these are acts of ‘nuclear terrorist’.
The Zaporizhzhia Power Plant was attacked last Wednesday. It set off a fire next to one of its reactors that Russian forces first prevented fire crews extinguishing. The Institute of Physics in Kharkiv, home to a nuclear reactor, was also attacked this morning. However, no serious damage was done.
The warnings from the West that Russia is preparing to use chemical weapons or biological weapons against Ukraine are also present. This would mean Kyiv will be held responsible for further inflaming the violence.
Jen Psaki was speaking on behalf of the White House. She said Russia has engaged in an obvious ploy to justify its use of chemical arms by creating disinformation suggesting that America is developing chemical weapons in Ukraine.
Boris Johnson (UK Prime Minister) echoed the claims. He said that: ‘The stuff that is being talked about chemical arms comes right out of their playbook.
“They say that chemical weapons have been kept by American or their enemies. So when they use chemical weapons to their own advantage, I worry they will, they are ready with a… fake story.
“You saw it in Syria. It was even seen in the UK. This is what they are doing. They are a barbaric, cynical government.
It came a day after Russia’s deputy energy minister, Yevgeny Grabchak, said power had been restored to the decommissioned plant, after Ukraine said earlier this week that Putin’s forces had cut the electricity.
However, the intelligence update disputed this, and repeated an earlier warning that if the electricity is cut, the plant’s emergency diesel generators that provide back-up power to safety systems can only last 48-hours.
Ukraine had pleaded earlier this week with Russia for a ceasefire to allow engineers into Chernobyl to restore power. Ukraine claimed that Russia refused.
The update stated that “The Occupants refused to allow access to the station for Ukrainian repairmen.”
Alexander Lukashenko instructed the ‘Belarusian experts’ to go there. Russian saboteurs were also among them.
Today, Ukraine’s intelligence agencies said that Russia was preparing to attack the Chernobyl nuclear reactor in an attempt to cause a man-made catastrophe. Pictured: The Chernobyl Exclusion Area’s destroyed reactor is seen parked in front of a Russian tank, February 24
Ukraine warned that radioactive materials could be released from Chernobyl’s nuclear power plant if it isn’t restored to its full capacity. Pictured: A still image taken from a handout video made available by the Russian Defence Ministry press service shows a general view of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Pripyat, Ukraine, March 7
On Wednesday, IAEA also said it had lost contact with the captured Zaporizhzhia power plant, just hours after warning of a potential unfolding disaster at Chernobyl.
The agency said warning systems at Zaporizhzhia – Europe’s largest nuclear power plant – had stopped broadcasting updates in the days since Russian forces shelled the site, resulting in international condemnation.
Rafael Grossi, chief of IAEA said Wednesday that he is ‘concerned’ about the abrupt interruption to data flow at Vienna headquarters.
He added that the reason for the disruption in updates from the power plants was not clear but the IAEA was still receiving data from other nuclear facilities in Ukraine, including three other operational nuclear power plants.
On Wednesday, Ukraine also warned Chernobyl that radiation could leak within 48 hours. Energoatom, the nation’s nuclear corporation, warned radioactive substances might be released if the electricity supply at Chernobyl is interrupted for too long, since it renders it impracticable to cool the spent nuclear fuel.
Energoatom stated that it was impossible to restore power and repair the link to the nuclear plant, which is where the worst nuclear accident occurred in 1996. Fighting continues in the area.
Pictured: An illustration of the chain of events that culminated in Reactor 4’s explosion on April 26, 1986
According to the company, Chernobyl had approximately 20,000 fuel assemblies that couldn’t be kept cool during a power cut.
The radioactive compounds could be released into the atmosphere as a result of their warming. It stated that radioactive clouds could travel by wind from other areas of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia to Europe.
It said that without power the ventilation systems of the plant wouldn’t work, which could expose staff to radiation-scarring doses.
Russia took control of the defunct atomic plant on the first day of the invasion and has since captured a second nuclear site – Zaporizhzhia – the biggest in Europe.
Ukrenergo, an energy operator, also stated that their power was cut completely to the plant’s security systems and plants.
Ukrenergo claimed that the plant had been “fully disconnected” from the grid. It also stated on Facebook that it was not possible to restore power lines due to military operations.
These recent events have raised concerns regarding security and safety throughout the region.
Last week staff at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant were captured on video pleading with Russian soldiers directing fire on the building before they overtook it.
After a gun fight between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian defenders, the nuclear power plant that generates about 20% of Ukraine’s electricity was captured.
International Atomic Energy Agency, (IAEA), stated that warning systems at Zaporizhzhia’s power plant have stopped sending out updates.
After a while, rescue crews were permitted to enter the Zaporizhzhia facility and put out the flames. This was before Russian soldiers entered the area and took control.
According to the United Nations’ nuclear monitoring agency, no of six reactors at the site had suffered direct damage and radiation levels were normal.
Later Wednesday, the IAEA stated that it did not see any safety issues from the power outage at Ukraine’s decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear reactor.
U.N. Nuclear Watchdog Vienna said Wednesday that Ukraine had notified it about the loss of electricity. The development also violates the ‘key safety principle on maintaining uninterrupted power supply’
It tweeted, however that it did not see any safety implications in this instance.
According to the IAEA, there may be heat removal from the spent nuclear fuel without electrical supply.
Speaking to MailOnline Claire Corkhill – Professor of Nuclear Material Degradation at Sheffield University – said that while power being cut at Chernobyl was concerning, the spent nuclear fuel would not lead to a nuclear ‘meltdown’.
She said that there were many areas of concern regarding the safety and security of the nuclear material in the Chernobyl area, as the electricity supply was cut off.
First, spent fuel from reactors 1, and 3, is kept at a cool temperature in metal casings inside a pond. (That looks like a swimming pool).
She stated that the material generates heat by radioactive decay. This requires continuous cooling. Fresh cool water is used to pump into the ponds.
“Without power, the water may slowly evaporate and potentially cause contamination.
The second issue, she said, concerns the monitoring of radioactivity levels in reactor four – the reactor that exploded in 1996.
After intense gun fighting between the Ukrainian defense forces and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s men, Zaporizhzhia’s nuclear power station was captured
Monitoring systems for nuclear materials at radioactive waste sites at Chernobyl, Ukraine, have stopped sending data to UN’s nuclear watchdog.
Professor Corkhill stated, “It’s essential that radiation monitoring system are capable of continuously monitoring the situation within reactor 4, so we can be aware any potential reasons to concern about the exposed nuclear fuel that resides inside,”
She said that another serious concern was the maintenance of the ventilation system within the New Safe Confinement structures. Chernobyl’s New Safe Confinement, or the huge cover that is called a sarcophagus, was put over reactor 4 in 2016.
This prevents the further degrading of Reactor 4 and of any hazardous, exposed nuclear fuel inside.
‘If there’s no power to this structure we might see the complete collapse of the 1.5Bn euros decommissioning scheme to make it safe.
Although Prof. Corkhill claimed that there wouldn’t be any large scale radioactivity released by the power loss, it’s more probable there will be severe contamination of spent fuel storage areas.
Prof Corkhill’s research is focused on the long-term evolution radioactive waste material in disposal areas.
Her British counterpart is leading an operation to clear up the Fukushima nuclear station, Japan. After creating material that simulates radioactive decay in these reactors and a lot more, it is a major contribution.
Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2004 and seize the plant. It was there that a 1986 radioactive disaster had occurred, which killed many and left Europe with radioactive contamination.
The Chernobyl nuclear plant experienced a sudden surge in power, which caused a huge reactor explosion. This exposed the core of the reactor and covered Europe and the west Soviet Union with radiation. Three days following the explosion at Chernobyl on April 29, 1986, this is the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
Russian troops control the Chernobyl facility since last week.
Unfortunately, the cause of the failure to service the powerline was not immediately known.
The UN’s atomic watchdog IAEA announced Tuesday that the site had stopped transmitting data. They also voiced concerns for the safety of staff under Russian protection.
According to the IAEA, “the situation of the staff was getting worse,” citing the Ukrainian nuclear regulator.
This exclusion zone houses radioactive waste and decommissioned reactors.
To protect the reactor, the Chernobyl Safe Confinement New was created in 2016. It was designed to prevent further release of radioactive contaminants for 100 years.
Because the facility requires continuous management in order to keep it from becoming another nuclear disaster, more than 2,000 people still work there.
Rafael Grossi (Director General IAEA) called Tuesday on the forces under effective control to facilitate safe personnel rotation.
He also reiterated his offer to travel in Chernobyl to obtain ‘the commitment of all parties to the safety and securement’ of Ukraine’s power stations.
“The Director General stated that remote data transmissions from Chernobyl NPP safeguards monitoring systems had been lost,” the IAEA announced yesterday.
Nuclear material and nuclear waste generated at nuclear power plants are kept under surveillance by safeguards.
IAEA asked Russian authorities to release the 210 Chernobyl staff held hostage. They argued that even though radiation levels are low in this area, it was necessary to provide a safe rotation of staff.
This comes just days after UN-based in Vienna reported that Ukrainian authorities had reported an attack against a nuclear facility at Kharkiv. But, there was no rise in radiation levels.
Russian forces captured the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Russia last month, just days following their invasion of Ukraine. They have refused to allow some 210 employees to leave. Image taken Feb 26th, 2022
A joint tactical exercise and special drill of the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs with the Ukrainian National Guard, Ministry Emergency and Ministry Emergency is held in Pripyat (near Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant) February