Ukrenerho: If the Russians seized the Yuzhnoukrainsk NPP, the consequences would be unpredictable

South Ukrainian NPP

If the Russians succeeded in occupying the Yuzhnoukrainsk nuclear power plant in the Mykolaiv region, it would «hit the energy system» of Ukraine «hard».

Vitalii Zaichenko, chief dispatcher of Ukrenerho, said this in an interview with Economic Truth.

He recalled that after the capture of Kherson, the Russians moved towards Yuzhnoukrainsk and planned to capture the Yuzhnoukrainsk NPP there.

«They were going to the Yuzhnoukrainsk NPP. This information was already after Zaporizhzhia NPP was captured. At that time, I sounded the alarm, tried to get through the government to the military that it was necessary to stop the movement towards the Yuzhnoukrainsk NPP,» said Vitaly Zaichenko.

Vitalii Zaichenko, chief dispatcher of Ukrenerho, photo: Economichna Pravda

If the occupiers succeeded in carrying out their plans, «the consequences would be unpredictable,» he added.

«In this case, it would be difficult to keep the system intact. The Yuzhnoukrainsk NPP is located in the middle of the country, many connections pass through it, it would take time to get around it. In addition, the loss of another 3 gigawatts of generating capacity would also have a strong impact on the energy system,» explained the dispatcher of Ukrenerho.

He also added that the worst accident for dispatchers happened during the blackout on November 23, 2023. At that time, all power units of the Yuzhnoukrainsk NPP were shut down in an emergency.

«There was an almost complete repayment of the entire energy system, only a part remained to work with the EU and small «energy islands» of thermal power plants that were isolated for isolated operation. It was a rather cold time of the year, and it was necessary to ensure the supply of power to the critical infrastructure — waterworks, hospitals. In just two hours, we restored the main backbone of the power system and synchronized it with Europe (the European Union, note), and in 14 hours we completely restored the entire power system,» said Vitalii Zaichenko.

Nuclear terror. How did Russia fire at the Yuzhnoukrainsk NPP?

On the night of September 19, 2022, the Russian army shelled the industrial zone of the Yuzhnoukrainsk nuclear power plant. The Iskander rocket fell 300 meters from the reactors.

Then the shock wave damaged the buildings of the NPP, over 100 windows were broken. As a result, one of the hydraulic units of the Oleksandrivka HPP, which is part of the South Ukrainian energy complex, was turned off. Three high-voltage power lines were also disconnected.

Before that, in August 2022, the Russians struck the city of Voznesensk, located near the Yuzhnoukrainsk NPP. The debris of the rocket was found in the observation area of the station, so it is possible that the rocket was aimed at the PANPP, Enerhoatom reported at the time.

«The very fact of shelling of the surveillance zone of the Yuzhnoukrainsk NPP is another cynical act of Russian nuclear terrorism,» they said.

After such events, it became known that a mission of experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will visit the Yuzhnoukrainsk NPP next week at the request of Ukraine, the general director of the agency, Raphael Grossi, said.

At the same time, law enforcement officers began detaining traitors who helped the Russians in their plans to occupy the Yuzhnoukrainsk NPP. In particular, the Security Service of Ukraine detained suspects in the leak of data on the defense of the nuclear power plant on April 10 and June 26, 2023.

It is also known that on April 29, 2022, the SSU captured three Russian soldiers from a group that planned to seize the Yuzhnoukrainsk NPP. They hid in abandoned buildings near Voznesensk. The special service also managed to detain the former assistant of the terrorist Zakharchenko.