IAEA Declares Situation at Chernobyl Critical, Crews At the Breaking Point

The Ukrainian Government has once again pleaded with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to petition the International Community and the Russian Federation to allow a rotation of the State Agency of Ukraine on Exclusion Zone Management agents to relieve the current crew.

Ukraine has eight of the country’s 15 reactors operating on standard shifts, including two at the Zaporizhzhya NPP that fell to Russian forces last week, but the personnel at Chernobyl have not been relieved in 13 days, effectively living at the plant.

Ukrainian State agents have only been able to communicate with the crew by email, but the crew of 210 technical advisors have reported that they have access to food, water, and limited medicine. Despite this, the Ukrainian agency and the IAEA have reported that the remote data transmission from safeguards monitoring systems installed at the Chornobyl NPP had been lost. The Agency is looking into the status of safeguards monitoring systems in other locations in Ukraine and will provide further information soon. However, there have not been any detected levels of increased radiation.

In a statement moments ago, Director General Grossi of the IAEA has agreed that this situation is constantly violating the Seven Pillars of Nuclear Safety:

1.  The physical integrity of the facilities – whether it is the reactors, fuel ponds, or radioactive waste stores – must be maintained;
2.  All safety and security systems and equipment must be fully functional at all times;
3. The operating staff must be able to fulfill their safety and security duties and have the capacity to make decisions free of undue pressure;
4. There must be a secure off-site power supply from the grid for all nuclear sites;
5. There must be uninterrupted logistical supply chains and transportation to and from the sites;
6. There must be effective on-site and off-site radiation monitoring systems and emergency preparedness and response measures; and
7. There must be reliable communications with the regulator and others

He is concerned that if the Russian Federation and the Ukrainian government do not reach terms to allow for the responsible management of the facility, then the overworked staff there will make mistakes resulting in an irreparable incident to the safety of themselves, the plant, and possibly Europe.