Rostyslav Averchuk |
Lviv (Ukraine) (BLAZETRENDS) , from where part of the population has begun to be evacuated.
“The water level of the Kajovka reservoir is rapidly decreasing, which represents an additional threat to the temporarily occupied nuclear power plant,” the Ukrainian nuclear operator Energoatom said after learning of the dam breach.
The water from the reservoir is needed to cool the plant’s reactors and prevent a radioactive leak. The infrastructure’s own reservoir is currently full and the water level is 16.6 meters, sufficient for the plant’s needs, the company estimated.
Olga Kosharna, a Ukrainian nuclear energy expert, told BLAZETRENDS that there is no immediate danger to the safety of the plant and added that the Ukrainian personnel at the plant could resort to various support mechanisms.
There are pumps with pipes several kilometers long that can be used to fill the cooling tank with water from the reservoir if the level drops dangerously.
However, this is complicated by the continued occupation of the plant by Russian troops and because the banks of the Dnieper river have been mined, the expert added.
human risk
Water is expected to flow from the Kajovka reservoir for the next four days before the level stabilizes, said Ukrgidrenergo, operator of the Kajovka hydroelectric plant.
There are about 80 settlements downstream at risk of flooding, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal added for his part.
Russian-occupied territories on the lower eastern bank of the Dnieper River are likely to suffer more than the Ukrainian-controlled right bank.
There is fear that the authorities installed by the Russian occupiers will not be able to organize an evacuation in time for the population that remains in the area in cities such as New Kajovka, which has been partially flooded.
At least eight towns and parts of Kherson have also been flooded, including the city’s Ostriv district.
“Some 16,000 people are in the critical zone,” said the head of the regional administration, Oleksandr Prokudin.
Local officials have started evacuating residents from areas at risk with new trains made available by Ukrainian Railways to get people out of the city.
According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the authorities are doing everything possible to save people and provide clean water.
environmental consequences
The destruction of the hydroelectric plant threatens to cause an ecological disaster in the south of the country, warned Prime Minister Shmygal.
The ecological impact, including erosion and contamination of soil and water, are difficult to estimate yet but will probably be “big” and could be felt “beyond the Ukrainian borders,” Mykhailo Yatsiuk of the National Academy told Ukrainian television. of Agricultural Sciences.
The destruction of the dam will affect the entire agricultural environment, as well as homes, in the dry south of Ukraine, due to its adverse effects on a complex irrigation system that is based on the Kajovka reservoir.
It is expected to affect the populations of Kherson and Zaporizhia, as well as occupied Crimea and countries that buy Ukrainian grain.
“Agriculture is impossible without irrigation given the climatic conditions of these regions,” stressed Tetiana Zavzharova, from the environmental NGO “Ecosense”.
infrastructure destruction
The destruction of the dam and its consequences is another blow to the country’s infrastructure and its energy supply system in particular.
In addition to extensive damage to the reservoir, the complete destruction of the Kajovka hydroelectric plant’s engine room was confirmed by the operator, Ukrgidrenergo.
That further weakens the country’s power system, which has lost more than half its generating capacity to the Russian invasion.
Flooding of downstream areas will likely cause damage to their civil infrastructure. On Telegram channels you can see how the cranes for the 92,000-ton grain in the town of Kozatske have been partially submerged.
