Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant
Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Station | |
---|---|
Official name | Запорізька АЕС |
Country | Ukraine |
Location | Enerhodar |
Coordinates | 47°30′30″N 34°35′30″E / 47.5083°N 34.5917°E |
Status | Operational |
Construction began | 1981 |
Commission date | 1985 |
Owner | Energoatom |
Nuclear power station | |
Reactor type | VVER |
Reactor supplier | Mintyazhmash |
Power generation | |
Units operational | 6 × 1,000 MWe |
Make and model | Electrotyazhmash |
Nameplate capacity | 6,000 MWe |
Annual net output | 9×1019 Joule |
External links | |
Website | www |
Commons | Related media on Commons |
The Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Station (Ukrainian: Запорізька АЕС) in Enerhodar, Ukraine, is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe and the third largest in the world.
Overview
The plant is located in Central Ukraine near the city of Enerhodar, on the banks of the Kakhovka Reservoir on the Dnieper river. It has 6 VVER-1000 pressurized light water nuclear reactors, each generating 1000 MWe, for a total power output[clarification needed] of 6,000 MWe.[1] The first five were successively brought online between 1985 and 1989, and the sixth was added in 1995. The plant was said to still be in construction till 2030 and will generate a bigger amount of power. The plant generates about half of the country's electricity derived from nuclear power, and more than a fifth of total electricity generated in Ukraine.[citation needed]
2014 unrest
In May 2014, 40 armed members of the pretending to be representatives of Right Sector allegedly tried to gain access to the power plant area.[2] The men were stopped by the Ukrainian police before entering into Enerhodar. The real intentions of the armed members are unclear as the Right Sector claimed they had, "no plans to storm the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant."[3]
The Zaporizhia power plant is located around 200 km away from the Anti-Terrorist-Operation (ATO) zone, where fighting has become very severe in 2014. On 31 August 2014, a Greenpeace expert, Tobias Münchmeyer, expressed concerns the plant could be hit by heavy artillery from the fighting.[4]
Accidents
2014 accident
On 3 December 2014, Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk announced the occurrence of an accident several days before at the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant.[5] The cause of the accident was reported as a short circuit in the power outlet system and was not linked to the site's production.[6] One of the six reactors of the plant was shut down twice in December 2014.[7] This and lack of coal for Ukraine's coal-fired power stations lead to rolling blackouts throughout the country from early till late December 2014.[7]
See also
- Enerhodar Dnipro Powerline Crossing
- List of power stations in Ukraine
- Orders of magnitude (energy)
- Threat of the Dnieper reservoirs
- Zaporozika DRES
References
- ^ "Nuclear Power Plants in Lithuania & Ukraine". Industcards.com.
- ^ http://www.ukrinform.ua/ukr/news/ohorona_zaes_zablokuvala_grupu_ozbroe_nih_osib_1939062
- ^ http://rt.com/news/159640-ukraine-gunmen-nuclear-plant/
- ^ "Ukrainian nuclear plant vulnerable to Kiev's artillery strikes – Greenpeace expert". Nucpros.com.
- ^ "Ukraine Reports Accident At Nuclear Power Plant, But Says Poses No Danger". Huffington Post. 3 December 2014.
- ^ "Ukraine energy minister says 'no threat' from accident at nuclear plant". Reuters. 3 December 2014.
- ^ a b Ukraine turns off reactor at its most powerful nuclear plant after 'accident', The Independent (28 December 2014)
Ukraine Briefly Cuts Power to Crimea Amid Feud With Russia Over NATO, New York Times (DEC. 24, 2014)
Coal import to help avoid rolling blackouts in Ukraine — energy minister Archived 2015-01-08 at the Wayback Machine, ITAR-TASS (December 31, 2014)
Rolling blackouts in Ukraine after nuclear plant accident, br>Mashable (Dec 03, 2014)
Ukraine to Import Coal From ‘Far Away’ as War Curtails Mines, Bloomberg News (Dec 31, 2014)