Thread by @gbrumfiel

Good morning! I think? I haven't slept much.

Here's the latest on what's happening at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, with some observations.

First a recap: overnight, Russian troops engaged Ukrainian security forces at the plant.

An administrative building used for training caught fire during the fighting. The building [47°30'17.52"N 34°35'19.25"] is approximately half a kilometer from the unit one reactor.

That fire is now out according to both Ukrainian authorities and the @iaeaorg.

@iaeaorg According to @iaeaorg radiation levels remain normal and critical safety systems are in operation at the plant.
However, a statement from Ukraine's regulator says that the plant's Unit 1 reactor, which was closest to the fighting, did sustain some battle damage.

@iaeaorg I'm working from a translation provided by @lfrayer and her team on the ground. But it appears that at the time of the fight:

✅Units 1-3 were already in shut down.

✅Units 5-6 were immediately shut down and are now being cooled.

@iaeaorg @lfrayer The @iaeaorg and this release both state that the Unit 4 reactor IS STILL OPERATING at 650 MW.

It was presumably operating throughout last night's fighting.

That is... shall we say... remarkable.

I am still in the early stages of learning about the 1980s-90s-era Soviet VVER reactors that are in use at this site. But I do want to stress a couple of things:

❌These reactors CANNOT explode in the same way as what happened at Chernobyl.

They are PWR reactors, which are inherently much more safe.

The same water that is used for heat and power production acts as the moderator for the nuclear fuel. If something happens to the water, the reactor will shut down.

BUT....

These reactors are big.

At 1000 MW electric a piece, even if they are shut down, the heat in the core is intense.

To truly keep them safe, water must be actively pumped through the reactor cores for days or even weeks.

In other words, you can't turn them off with a switch.

There's also spent fuel that will require cooling. So this nuclear plant in the middle of a war zone is not out of the woods yet. Not by a long shot.

At a press conference earlier, @rafaelmgrossi described what sounded like a tense situation at the plant. Russian troops now control access and security, but Ukrainians continue to operate the facility. It's unclear how well these two sides are communicating.

@rafaelmgrossi The @iaeaorg director general implored both sides to stop fighting around nuclear facilities, and repeatedly said he was ready to travel to Chernobyl to conduct talks between the Ukrainians and the Russians.

@rafaelmgrossi @iaeaorg I also want to note how remarkable this press conference was. I have covered the @iaeaorg through Fukushima and Iran nuclear deals.

I've never seen anything like this. Grossi was visibly upset and very blunt. This is a treaty organization and words are usually chosen with care.

@rafaelmgrossi @iaeaorg It shows how we're really in uncharted territory when it comes to war and nuclear facilities.

It didn't get much coverage, but last week a nuclear waste site in Kharkiv was damaged in fighting there. No radioactive material was released.

iaea.org/newscenter/pre…

@rafaelmgrossi @iaeaorg And this is nowhere near the end. There are three other nuclear plants in operation in Ukraine, including one near Odessa (map via @WorldNuclear).

@rafaelmgrossi @iaeaorg @WorldNuclear And there are three smaller research reactors in the country, including one in Kiev, a city currently under attack.

So the TL;DR?

Zaporizhzhia NPP appears to be safe, at least for now.

But we are in a truly unprecedented and extraordinarily dangerous situation the world has never seen before. /END

Some of the first images are now coming out of the damage at the plant (via Energoatom, the state owned company that runs Zaporizhzhia NPP).