09-03-2022 | 12:41 PM
Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant seized
Recently, Russian forces shelled the buildings & seized the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Powerplant, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe.
It is located on the banks of the Dnieper river, just 200 kilometers from the conflicted Donbas region where Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian forces have been fighting.
Zaporizhzhya is one of the four operating NPPs in the country and has been operating since 1984.
It accounts for about 40% of the total electricity generated by all the Ukrainian NPPs and one-fifth of Ukraine’s annual electricity production.
The Zaporizhzhya NPP consists of six Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) units.
PWR is a type of light water reactor that uses ordinary water as the moderator and coolant.
The Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors are fuelled by Natural Uranium while Light Water Reactors (LWRs) are fuelled by Low Enriched Uranium.
Interesting Fact
In India, some nuclear reactors are kept under “IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) safeguards”.
The nuclear facilities are kept under IAEA safeguards if the source of Uranium, which is the fissile material for a nuclear reactor, is from outside the territory of India or if the new reactor plants are established with foreign collaboration.