‘The situation is serious’: IAEA chief on threat to Ukraine nuclear plant
‘The situation is serious’: IAEA chief on threat to Ukraine nuclear plant
International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi speaks with CNN’s Isa Soares about the impact of the collapse of the Nova Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine on the nearby Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. #CNN #News
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0.033 -> A dam collapses downriver
1.501 -> from the separation
2.669 -> nuclear plant, sparking fears
4.204 -> you can imagine about nuclear safety.
6.406 -> The UN's nuclear watchdog
7.774 -> says there's no immediate risk
9.476 -> and says they have enough water.
11.611 -> For months
12.212 -> you're sitting there in your mouth,
13.013 -> roughly the position of it.
13.98 -> But the head of the International
14.981 -> Atomic Energy Agency
16.549 -> has been quoted
17.183 -> by Russian state media saying
18.752 -> they won't be able to keep
19.753 -> pumping cooling water
20.887 -> from a reservoir to the plant
22.689 -> if the water level drops too low.
25.058 -> Well, to explain all this,
26.192 -> the IAEA director General Rafael
28.161 -> Mariano Grossi,
29.295 -> joins me now live from Vienna.
31.264 -> Mr. Grossi.
31.865 -> Great to have you on the show.
33.4 -> Thank you very much
34.034 -> for taking the time to speak to us.
36.069 -> Bring us up to date,
36.803 -> if you could, on the situation.
38.371 -> As you understand
39.339 -> right now
40.173 -> at the Zachary, your nuclear power plant.
43.443 -> Thank you.
43.81 -> Thank you very much, as always, a
45.945 -> pleasure to talk to you.
47.947 -> What I can say,
48.648 -> we are monitoring this by the minute,
50.717 -> I should say,
51.718 -> since this occurred yesterday,
55.121 -> the levels of the of the water are,
58.425 -> of course,
59.259 -> going down, decreasing quite,
61.394 -> quite rapidly.
63.496 -> Obviously, the dam down
66.232 -> south being destroyed
69.369 -> The effects of water is unimpeded.
72.105 -> And this is, of course,
73.706 -> having an automatic impact
75.909 -> on the amount of water
77.343 -> that the nuclear power plant has
81.047 -> to be integrated into the cooling system
85.218 -> of the plant.
85.819 -> I don't want to get too technical here,
87.854 -> but just to explain
89.823 -> that there is a reservoir there
92.959 -> and then a number of internal channels
96.896 -> that ensure that there is water
98.765 -> in circulation permanently, so to speak,
102.302 -> so that the reactors that you are,
104.37 -> you know, showing them there
108.041 -> to get the necessary cooling.
110.944 -> Of course,
112.078 -> if if the plant were to run out of water,
116.649 -> then we would have
117.717 -> a very serious situation.
119.486 -> What we said when I said is that there
122.655 -> doesn't seem to be an imminent
125.792 -> risk of a dry up of the water
130.13 -> available available there.
132.365 -> But the situation is serious
134.767 -> in Seoul insofar
136.369 -> as we are seeing this diminishing.
139.472 -> It's between five and seven centimeters
143.843 -> per hour.
144.744 -> So it's it's it's steady li going down.
148.681 -> So we have to monitor it
150.216 -> very, very carefully.
151.251 -> This is why I am going
152.752 -> back to the Parisian next week.
155.355 -> I've been there already.
156.956 -> Twice, and I'm going to return there
160.093 -> with a reinforced team of nuclear
163.83 -> safety experts from the from the IAEA
168.001 -> to two to have a more complete,
170.336 -> more comprehensive assessment
172.272 -> of where we are.
173.673 -> So no imminent risk.
174.908 -> But do you have a sense
176.876 -> of how much water
177.844 -> you would have into in some months,
179.078 -> how many months
179.679 -> you have water in that
181.014 -> well before that cooling control?
183.449 -> I wouldn't like to speculate too much
185.552 -> because this is a function of the
188.321 -> the conditions of the water and how
192.025 -> we get to a point where the
194.661 -> the the the movement of the water.
197.096 -> The fact of water stabilized
199.499 -> is, relatively speaking.
200.934 -> I would say we calculate that
203.403 -> more or less a month is is guaranteed.
205.838 -> It could be a little bit more,
207.507 -> but it would also be less.
209.142 -> So it all depends.
210.81 -> You were mentioning
211.778 -> you were quoted as saying
214.614 -> that there is also a function
216.349 -> of the capacity
217.517 -> to pump water from the river,
220.186 -> so to speak.
221.221 -> But there are certain levels
222.655 -> you can you must
223.323 -> you must imagine
224.49 -> that there is a difference
225.758 -> in the level of the of the reservoir
228.261 -> and the
229.262 -> the cooling pond and the river itself.
231.13 -> So you need to pump it up.
233.032 -> And then if the level goes down too much,
235.501 -> you cannot do that.
236.436 -> So all of these things are
238.371 -> in combination.
239.105 -> This is why we say
240.273 -> there is no reason for immediate panic
242.242 -> or to believe that
243.343 -> that the water to cool
245.745 -> the plant is going to dry up immediately.
248.081 -> But it's a serious situation.
249.816 -> We are taking this very seriously.
251.784 -> So no immediate.
252.485 -> But Ukraine says it will take a think.
254.821 -> They said five years Mr.
256.122 -> Grossi to rebuild the dam.
258.091 -> So I'm guessing you're
259.092 -> looking now at plan B here.
262.528 -> Well, absolutely.
263.463 -> There are a
263.763 -> number of mitigation or mitigating.
267.567 -> If you want measures that can be taken,
271.404 -> including using water from from
275.742 -> other places,
277.21 -> not necessarily the river
280.413 -> digging for for water in the water table
284.25 -> near the plant, getting water from
287.253 -> from neighboring towns or villages.
290.323 -> But all of this needs to be assessed.
292.592 -> Of course,
293.026 -> the decision will be taken at the plant
296.996 -> But we as IAEA being present
299.799 -> there are going, of course,
301.334 -> to express very clearly
303.036 -> what we feel should be should be done
306.372 -> Obviously, the situation and we we
309.676 -> am aware
310.51 -> of of the assessment
312.445 -> by the Ukrainian government.
314.447 -> It is going to take a long time
316.082 -> to go back to those to the situation
318.318 -> before the accident.
321.721 -> But we were estimating this possibility.
324.524 -> We were assessing this possibility
326.726 -> as one.
327.26 -> We were wishing that it would not occur.
329.162 -> But unfortunately,
330.53 -> this has to be the case.
332.999 -> You call it an accident that Kiev accuses
336.269 -> Russia of blowing up this dam,
337.87 -> sabotaging its own van dam.
340.173 -> What are your thoughts on this?
342.375 -> Well, there's there's no
344.61 -> if you sort of read too much into me
346.579 -> using the word accident.
347.98 -> It is, of course,
349.882 -> an event.
350.717 -> It is a distraction.
352.251 -> I you know, I am the head of an agency
355.388 -> that is an agency,
356.522 -> among many other things
357.657 -> we do of inspectors. We inspect.
360.393 -> We are known as the nuclear watchdog,
362.362 -> as you know.
363.463 -> So we don't speculate
365.064 -> when we pass judgment on something is
367.834 -> on the basis of information
369.869 -> that we can assess.
371.003 -> And as you can imagine,
372.338 -> I don't have information
373.506 -> to tell you
374.64 -> what we believe is at the origin of this.
377.777 -> And there are a number of speculations
380.046 -> that are out there on who is behind it.
383.249 -> What I'm dealing
383.95 -> it is with their results,
385.318 -> and I'm trying to prevent this
387.453 -> from getting into a nuclear accident.
390.123 -> Let's talk then about inside the plant,
392.759 -> because as you would have seen Mr.
393.993 -> Grossi from our correspondent
395.228 -> and her son,
396.362 -> Fred Pleitgen,
397.363 -> you've seen hundreds of people
398.731 -> being evacuated in the area.
400.166 -> What has this
400.833 -> meant for the staff at the Zapper
403.603 -> which power plant?
405.004 -> Are there enough
405.772 -> qualified people there
407.206 -> to run the nuclear plant safely?
409.809 -> Well, yeah, this is a good point.
412.545 -> You know, this this this plant, it's
414.48 -> actually six reactors
416.783 -> used to have around 12,000
420.386 -> people working there.
421.754 -> At the moment, we are below 3000.
425.591 -> And of course, one has to bear in mind
429.796 -> that the plant at the moment
431.531 -> is not operating normally.
433.633 -> It's not generating power.
435.968 -> So it is at a very low level,
439.238 -> at a low regime.
440.706 -> So in this very low level operation,
444.21 -> we call it in the jargon, it shut down.
448.581 -> You need far
449.649 -> less people that you would need
451.617 -> if the plant was operated,
453.419 -> operating as in peacetime,
455.688 -> which is not the case now.
457.19 -> But it's a matter that worries us.
459.525 -> And I
459.792 -> have been discussing this in Moscow
461.828 -> and in Kiev, because quite clearly
465.231 -> a situation like this is not sustainable
467.467 -> for too long.
468.634 -> That will be
469.202 -> there will be a moment
470.403 -> where a decision will have to be taken
473.306 -> as to
473.806 -> whether the plant
475.041 -> will be restarted or not.
478.11 -> And then there might be a problem
480.146 -> in terms of staff.
481.08 -> This is only a quantitative analysis
483.583 -> I am making. And I'm here.
485.218 -> I'm conscious of the fact
486.352 -> that I'm not talking about something
487.92 -> that worries me a lot also,
489.989 -> which is that will affect the situation,
492.158 -> the pressure.
492.992 -> You have to remember that this plant
496.128 -> is at the frontline,
497.597 -> right at the frontline,
499.298 -> not in the province,
500.6 -> not in the vicinity of the frontline.
503.102 -> Whenever I go there, I have to,
505.171 -> you know,
505.505 -> go through the front line and through a
507.373 -> no man's land.
508.708 -> And with soldiers
510.543 -> confronting each other,
511.544 -> seeing each other,
512.345 -> this is where the action is.
514.213 -> So you can imagine working in both
517.083 -> those conditions.
518.451 -> And you were mentioning that
519.685 -> a few days ago,
522.121 -> some people were invited to evacuate
525.491 -> a village near the plant.
527.126 -> So the situation
529.095 -> has nothing normal about it.
532.198 -> It is very abnormal.
534.667 -> And the levels of stress
537.136 -> and anxiety are enormous.
539.138 -> We are trying to help
540.172 -> in that regard as well.
542.041 -> I can't imagine the stress
543.342 -> that they are all feeling across the.
544.977 -> Appreciate you taking the time
546.245 -> to speak to us this evening.
547.513 -> Thank you, sir.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feUK7zaN_r4