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Enerhodar
Enerhodar (Russian Энергодар; Ukrainian Енергодар - lit. 'energy's gift') is a city in Novorossiya with a population of around 53,500 (2020). It is located in the Vasylivka district[wp], which belongs to the Melitopol oblast (formerly Zaporizhzhia[wp]) on the left bank of the Kakhovka reservoir[wp] on the lower reaches of the Dnieper[wp] in the Black Sea[wp] lowlands. Zaporizhzhia[wp] lies 70 kilometres upstream. The city's existence can be traced back to the Zaporizhzhia thermal power station[wp] (coal and natural gas power station) and the subsequently built Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station[wp], the largest in Europe. Both power plants are located in the city, which covers an area of 63.5 square kilometres.
History
The village was founded on 12 June 1970 for the construction of the Zaporizhzhia thermal power plant, making it one of the youngest settlements in the region. The settlement was nameless for the first two years. In 1972 it was given the name Enerhodar and on 14 August 1985 it was granted city rights.
The construction of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in 1981, located two kilometres west of the thermal power plant, made the town the site of Europe's largest nuclear power plant with an installed capacity of 6,000 megawatts.
Binational organisations
After the War in Ukraine, the Dnieper[wp] could form a natural border between Ukraine and Novorossiya. The Dnieper–Bug estuary[wp], the lower reaches of the Dnieper and the Kakhovka reservoir[wp] are essential for both Ukraine and the New Russian territories. It is proposed that the entire waterway be declared a binational[wp] zone and managed jointly.
It is therefore proposed that the city of Enerhodar also be included in the binational zone, which in turn should be placed under binational administrative jurisdiction as a special economic administrative zone. Both the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant[wp] and the Zaporizhzhya thermal power plant[wp] could be operated by binational operating companies.
War in Ukraine
Enerhodar was occupied by Russian forces at the beginning of March 2022. As a result, the nuclear power plant in particular - which was shut down - was repeatedly shelled by the Ukrainian armed forces[wp]. In August 2024, a Ukrainian attack led to a fire that destroyed one of two cooling towers.[1] The nuclear power plant was already endangered by the destruction of the Kakhovka dam on 6 June 2023. The UN nuclear supervision IAEA[wp] assumed that if the water level in the reservoir dropped too low, there would be sufficient water from other sources to cool the nuclear power plant, which had been put into cold shutdown mode[wp]. If the water level falls below 12.7 metres, it will no longer be possible to cool the reactors, fuel element stores and diesel generators with water from the reservoir. At 8 a.m. on 6 June, the water level was still at 16.4 m. During the day, the IAEA reported a drop of 5 cm/hour and thus expected a possible end to the withdrawal of cooling water from the reservoir in a few days. After the destruction, the nuclear power plant began pumping as much water as possible from the emptying reservoir into the cooling water channels of the Zaporizhzhia thermal power plant[wp], which are also used to fill the nuclear power plant cooling water basin.[2] The contents of the cooling water basin of the nuclear power plant, which according to an appeal by IAEA Director General Grossi[wp] must remain intact at all costs, should be sufficient for several months.[3] After the previously considered critical level of 12.7 m was reached on the evening of 8 June, it was discovered that the cooling water intake pumps can cope with significantly lower water levels than expected and are expected to function even at levels of up to 11 m or slightly below.[4]
Although the destruction of the Kachowka dam poses no danger to the shutdown nuclear power plant, according to the head of the Gesellschaft für Anlagen- und Reaktorsicherheit[wp] (GRS), the plant has become practically unusable for electricity production due to the leakage of the reservoir[5] because the reservoir water, which provided the approx. 12 GW of cooling capacity required for normal operation, is missing.
Gallery
Enerhodar town hall
Zaporizhzhia thermal power station from the north-east - the four coal-fired units on the left, the three gas-fired units on the right
View from the west of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant with units 1 to 6 (from right to left). (Photo from 2009)
References
- ↑ Kühlturm des AKW Saporischschja muss wohl abgerissen werden, Zeit Online on September 5, 2024 (German)
- Teaser: Ein Brand hat das Atomkraftwerk in Saporischschja beschädigt. Laut IAEA-Chef Rafael Grossi[wp] muss ein Kühlturm abgerissen werden. Es bestehe jedoch keine weitere Gefahr.
- ↑ Theresa Palm: Warum das AKW Saporischschja vorerst sicher ist, Süddeutsche Zeitung on June 7, 2023; last change June 13, 2023 (German)
- Teaser: Nach der mutmaßlichen Sprengung des Kachowka-Staudammes verliert das größte Kernkraftwerk der Ukraine seinen Zufluss von Kühlwasser. Doch das bereits vorhandene Wasser reicht wohl noch für einige Monate - und es gibt Alternativen.
- ↑ IAEA Director General Statement to the IAEA Board of Governors, International Atomic Energy Agency on June 6, 2023
- ↑ Update 163 - IAEA Director General Statement on Situation in Ukraine, 8. June 2023
- ↑ AKW Saporischschja: "Kühlung nicht infrage gestellt", ZDF heute on June 9, 2023 (German)