Threats and hazards to staff at Russian-seized Chernobyl nuclear power plant (NPP)

     Although the Chernobyl NPP stopped producing electricity around 2000, it still needs staff to keep cool water circulating over the spent fuel rods. Since the war cut the high-voltage power lines that normally, keep the NPP cooling system running, the staff have been held there at gunpoint working nonstop. There have been disagreements over what will happen if the pumps stop working: will the water boil, forming radioactive steam and then melting the fuel assemblies, or have the decades in storage cooled the fuel below the temperatures needed to cause a meltdown? 

A more probable and pressing radiation hazard is whether the outage will compromise the ventilation system, exposing the staff to higher levels of radiation. In any case, the staff being forced to do double duty (no relief staff for the second 12-hour shift), rapidly dwindling food supplies, lack of sleep, and armed Russian guards ready to shoot whoever tries to leave is severely stressing the staff to the point where someone may do something irrational.

Written by 

Glen I Reeves MD 

 

 Chernobyl nuclear power plant