Diesel generators can ensure Chernobyl NPP operation for 48 hours - SNRIU

KYIV. March 9 (Interfax-Ukraine) - Diesel generators have been turned on at the state specialized enterprise Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant following a power outage as a result of an emergency shutdown of the 750 kV transmission line at the Kyivska substation. They can ensure the operation of the facility for a maximum 04 48 hours, the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine (SNRIU) said.

"Emergency diesel generators have been turned on at the site to supply power to systems that are important for safety. The diesel fuel in the diesel generators will last for 48 hours without stopping," SNRIU said on Facebook.

The power outage at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant makes it impossible to monitor the nuclear and radiation safety parameters at the facilities of the enterprise, the report said.

Regulatory control over the state of nuclear and radiation safety at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant site and in the exclusion zone is currently impossible, and the work of the automatic radiation control of the exclusion zone still has not resumed, SNRIU said.

The system operator NPC Ukrenergo said in the morning of March 9 the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant was completely without power.

The National Nuclear Generating Company Energoatom said on its Telegram channel the blackout of all nuclear facilities in the exclusion zone was associated with damage to the 750 kV transmission line of the Chernobyl NPP at the Kyivska substation, which also led to a blackout in the city of Slavutych.