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Nuclear Physicist Andrei Ozharovsky: Serious Accident Could Happen At BelNPP

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Nuclear Physicist Andrei Ozharovsky: Serious Accident Could Happen At BelNPP

The plant works extremely unreliable.

Recently, the BelNPP in Astravets was urgently shut down for the sixth time. The first unit was disconnected from the grid by the automatic protection of the generator.

The Charter97.org website asked Russian nuclear physicist Andrei Ozharovsky to comment on the situation at BelNPP:

- First of all, the shutdown was unscheduled. This means that the nuclear power plant does not work reliably. The nuclear specialists always criticize the renewable power, like wind power, for example - the wind does not blow consistently, but we see that the nuclear power plant in commercial operation is shutting down by its own internal algorithms, without warning anybody. These were not some kind of tests. This is what we have always said, nuclear power is an unreliable thing.

Secondly, according to the official reports, the shutdown is not related to the nuclear part. The failure of the generator, which is the Achilles' heel of Russian nuclear power plants, the 2006 nuclear power plant project. Similar problems occurred when the first unit of this type was turned on in Voronezh. There was a short circuit, the whole generator burned out and had to be replaced. We will keep a close eye on how long the repairs will last, how long the plant will be idle, and how much electricity will not be supplied to the grid.

So far I haven't seen any reports coming from the Ministry of Energy, and it's been a day and a half, on when they plan to turn on the nuclear plant. At best for them it was a technical failure and nothing bad happened, but at worst it could be a recurrence of a serious accident which would require replacing equipment on the generating part of the nuclear plant. Such repairs can last for weeks.

Another important point I have noticed: reports of an accident on the power line in Homel region. According to official reports, the climate was to blame, something about the temperature was written there, but it is very strange that exactly at the moment when 20% of the generating capacity fell out, the power grid was shut down. There is a possibility that the cause of the blackout was the unscheduled shutdown of the BelNPP.

Such a dramatic drop in significant power is stressful for an AC grid, so it is quite possible that the cables could not withstand the shutdown of the nuclear power plant. And I repeat that officially, the Ministry of Energy denies this and mentions some extreme temperatures: allegedly, the sharp drop in power should not affect the cable lines.

- So far, it is not reported whether the BelNPP has been reconnected. The station has been idle for several days. What could be the reason?

- This long downtime has to do with the need to repair equipment. They do not report what exactly is burnt or damaged.

- If the problems at BelNPP are serious enough, what could be the consequences of its operation - in the short, medium and long term?

- I'm inclined to believe that this unscheduled shutdown is not connected with radiation hazard, i.e. the reactor will be shut down in the in a routine mode. I would really like to believe it, because I wouldn't like Belarus to experience the horrors of Chernobyl again.

Downtime is a direct loss, and Belarus has to pay a huge loan for the working nuclear power plant. The shutdown of the plant is a burden on the state budget of Belarus, which is not in the best condition already. Most likely, this failure is a financial threat, not an environmental one. And we have always said that nuclear power is unprofitable, in part because of the unreliability of its operation.

- The Belarusian Anti-Nuclear Campaign has demanded to suspend the license for BelNPP operation. Can you tell us why BelNPP is not ready for operation?

- The demand not to use the plant is associated with two considerations. Firstly, from the ecological point of view, it is a factory for the production of radioactive waste. They also produce both heat and electricity, but this is another matter. So, now it is extremely irresponsible to produce radioactive waste with respect to the future generation, who will have to live on the land full of these waste burial sites.

Secondly, accidents and catastrophes comparable to those in Chernobyl cannot be ruled out. These risks are too great, especially for Belarus, which has already suffered from nuclear power. There is such a belief that shells never hit the same place twice. No, they do. If you build nuclear power plants, one of them is bound to explode or release radiation. This, unfortunately, is proven by experience.

The Belarusian Anti-Nuclear Campaign argues that even when the plant is built, it would be better not to issue a license, but to give it all back to Rosatom and get engaged into long and hard negotiations on how not to pay off this loan.

Unfortunately, the Belarusian authorities once again acted as agents of Rosatom, turned a blind eye to public protests, and issued a license. One has to understand that from the moment the license was issued, the meter started to run, and Belarus is already obliged to pay this debt under any circumstances.

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