Ukraine’s energy minister Herman Halushenko said the country is doing “everything possible” to restore the electricity supply to the Chernobyl nuclear power station “as soon as possible.”
Halushenko's comments came Thursday via a statement posted to the Ukrainian energy ministry website. The Energy Minister stressed that electricity is needed to maintain the cooling mechanisms at the storage facility for used nuclear fuel.
The minister explained that there are several power lines for the plant, with the last one “destroyed as a result of the occupant’s shelling” on Wednesday. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said it had been informed by Ukraine that Chernobyl had lost power, but that it saw “no critical impact” on the plant’s safety.
“For the sake of [the] safety of Ukraine or Europe, and for the whole world, the [Russian] military has to leave the nuclear facilities,” Halushenko said.
Halushenko went on to suggest that the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and IAEA missions should be placed at the nuclear facilities.
“Nuclear terrorism is not only when the nuclear stations are being targeted. It is when the staff is under great pressure, and a single mistake can have extensive repercussions,” Halushenko warned.
The minister thanked the staff at the Chernobyl and Zhaporizhzhia power stations for their “truly heroic” work under “physical and phycological pressure from the occupants,” CNN reports.
