Ukraine: Situation of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant after the shelling of August 11, 2022
On Thursday, August 11, 2022, new shelling was reported in the area of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant in Ukraine. According to the information available, sensitive areas regarding radiological risks were not affected.
According to Energoatom, the plant's operator, fire-fighting equipment, a non-radioactive effluent pumping station and radioactivity measurement sensors were damaged.
Available measurements in the environment do not show an increase of radioactivity around the site.
Sensitive areas with regard to radiological risks, particularly in the event of a shelling, are primarily the nuclear reactors and their associated fuel storage pools, the cooling systems used during normal operation or in accident situations and, more generally, areas containing radioactive materials, such as dry storage containers for spent fuel and radioactive effluent storage capacities.
In this matter, in addition to the equipment and buildings that house them, the external electrical network (330 kV and 750 kV), as well as the supply of water to the plant from the river, are essential for maintaining safety. This is also the case for the fire-fighting equipment. It should be noted that the 330 kV power supply, damaged by a previous shelling on August 5 and 6, 2022, has reportedly been restored.
In addition, the difficult conditions under which the site is operated (supply capacity for fuel, equipment maintenance, availability of emergency response teams...) (cf. IRSN information report of March 22, 2022) may affect the effective status of emergency systems.
Download IRSN information report of August 12, 2022 (pdf)