Page 9 - FSUOGM 32

FSUOGM POLICY FSUOGM
Russia to switch Zaporizhzhia NPP from Ukrainian to Russian grid
UKRAINE
The site has suffered from recent shelling which Kyiv and Moscow have blamed on each other.
RUSSIA wants to switch Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP) to the Russian grid in order to transfer power to occupied Crimea, Ukraine Business news reported on August 10.
The Zaporizhzhia NPP, Europe’s largest plant, has been under Russian occupation since early March following a shocking attack that Zelenskiy labeled “a night that could have stopped the his- tory of Ukraine and Europe”. The ZNPP accounts for one-fifth of Ukraine’s power generation and the Ukrainian staff continues to operate the plant, supplying electricity to Ukrainian-con- trolled territory.
However, the site has suffered from recent shelling which Kyiv and Moscow blame on each other, the AP reported. Over the last few days, shelling has damaged 3 out of 4 high voltage lines connecting the ZNPP to the Ukrainian grid. As such, representatives of Rosatom, Rus- sia’s national nuclear energy corporation, want to disconnect the ZNPP from the Ukrainian grid, citing the damage as the reason.
In an interview with Ukrainian TV channel ICTV, Petro Kotin, the president of Ukraine’s national NPP operator Energoatom, said Rosa- tom’s plan will result in blackouts across south- ern Ukraine, including occupied parts of the Kherson and Zaporizhia regions. Moreover, it will be impossible to reconnect the ZNPP to the Ukrainian grid without retaking the plant.
“To switch the station’s power to Crimea, it must be turned off, as well as the entire south of Ukraine,” Kotin said. “After that, they must start re-energising these areas from the substa- tion in Dzhankoi (Crimea) and then gradually reach Kakhovka (Kherson) and re-energise the ZNPP. After that, it will no longer be possible to connect it to the Ukrainian energy system, and it will remain on the Russian frequency.” Kyiv has repeatedly called for international pressure in response to what it calls “Russian nuclear terror”. Ukrainian President Volod- ymyr Zelenskiy demanded sanctions on the Russian nuclear industry and nuclear fuel in a tweet on August 7.
Kyiv has accused Moscow of using the ZNPP as a base to launch attacks against Ukrainian territory, claiming that Ukrainians would be hesitant to return fire. Russia is also accused of storing troops and weapons at the site, as well as shelling and mining the plant, the AP reports.
In turn, Moscow denied the accusations and says Ukraine is repeatedly striking the plant, claiming Ukrainian shelling on August
7 triggered an emergency shutdown, result- ing in staff lowering output from two reactors. The Russian military has even gone so far as to state that Ukraine is “taking the entire Europe hostage.” The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has expressed severe concerns over the Russian occupation of the ZNPP and has requested access to the site to ensure that a nuclear catastrophe doesn’t happen. How- ever, the IAEA has not yet been granted access, although recently Ukrainian officials appear to be coming round to the idea, with Ukraine’s ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets requesting a UN and IAEA delegation visit the ZNPP to “demili- tarize the territory” and ensure the safety of plant employees.
“Every principle of nuclear safety has been violated,” the head of the IAEA Rafael Mariano Grossi said. “What is at stake is extremely seri- ous and extremely grave and dangerous.” After the full-scale invasion, Ukraine ended agree- ments on cooperation between the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Nuclear Safety of Ukraine and the Federal Supervision of Nuclear and Radiation Safety of Russia, signed in Vienna on September 19, 1996. It also terminated the agreement between the State Nuclear Regulatory Committee of Ukraine and the Federal Nuclear and Radiation Safety Supervision of Russia on the exchange of information and cooperation in the field of safety regulation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, which was signed in Moscow on August 14, 2002.
Despite the war, Ukraine has managed to keep eight out of 15 nuclear energy reactors online. The seven other reactors are shut down for regular maintenance or held in reserve. Safety systems remain operational at the four NPPs, and they also continue to have off-site power available, Ukraine said.
The US stated in June that Ukraine’s NPPs may be the answer to easing the European Union’s dependence on Russian coal and gas. The US helped Ukraine integrate into the Euro- pean power grids and used emergency funds to support Ukraine’s full integration.
“Any discussion on European energy security today must include Ukraine. Ukraine’s nuclear power plants alone can reduce Europe’s depend- ence on Russian coal and gas as soon as Ukraine can export electricity to Europe,” the US Assis- tant Secretary of Energy for International Affairs, Andrew Light said. ™
Week 32 11•August•2022 w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m P9