Russian War Against Ukraine: Energy Dimension DiXi Group alert (status as of 11:00, March 5) Set A2/AD and no-fly zones over Ukraine’s nuclear facilities! #StopRussianAggression #StandWithUkraine Russian invaders are holding the exhausted personnel of the Chernobyl NPP hostage without rotation for the tenth day. The personnel of the recently seized Zaporizhzhia NPP also kept working. With reports on killed and wounded defenders of the facility, its perimeter is controlled by the Russian terrorists. The new threat can arise for the South Ukraine NPP, with the satellite city is approached by the Russian occupants. The disconnected nuclear units were substituted with coal- fired generation. The enemy continues planned shelling of critical infrastructure facilities, as well as residential buildings, schools, universities and other public facilities. The aim of Russian invaders to create humanitarian disaster in some cities and towns was confirmed. Despite agreement on creation of evacuation corridors, the Russians continued shelling and blew up railway tracks. Resulting from the attacks, hundreds of thousands of consumers were left without gas and electricity supply. Heat and water supply is also absent in some places. Because of the proximity of war, Ukrtransgaz shut down operation of a gas storage facility in the Lugansk region. Instead, Ukraine negotiated additional firm capacities for gas imports from Poland. As of 10:00, March 5, Ukraine’s power system operates stably Power system in an autonomous (isolated) mode. Despite Russia's attack on the Zaporizhzhia NPP, the power system is operating stably, the network operation frequency is maintained at 50 Hz. Employees of Zaporizhzhia NPP are on duty, two power units are operational (connected to the network). All other generating facilities are operating - nuclear, thermal and hydroelectric power plants, RES capacity. The curve of electricity consumption is within the standard numbers. The power system is still capable to provide electricity for all consumers, incl. the military, with no forced shutdowns to reduce consumption. The total capacity of four Ukrainian NPPs provided the necessary electricity production for the country needs. The maximum electricity consumption level on March 4, 18:00, amounted below 14 GW, which is slightly lower compared to the previous day. According to the media, the shut down of two units of the Zaporizhzhia NPP have been compensated by the capacity of 9 DTEK fossil generation units. Radiation, fire and environmental conditions at NPPs and surrounding areas have not changed and remain within current standards. Radiation safety On March 5, 07:00, the Zaporizhzhya Regional Center for Disease Control and Prevention of the Ministry of Health conducted scheduled monitoring, which confirmed that the radiation levels do not exceed the natural background in this area (9-16 μR/h) and currently does not pose a threat to life and public health. However, the capture of the Zaporizhzhya NPP by Russian troops imposed enormous risks to the nuclear and radiation safety of Ukraine and the whole Europe. According to Energoatom, the biggest threat is nuclear material stored in the NPP six nuclear reactors and in the near-reactor holding tanks. There are also about 150 spent fuel containers in the storage facility at the NPP site. The loss of the ability to cool nuclear fuel will lead to a radioactive release into the environment, which may exceed the consequences of the Chernobyl and Fukushima-Daiichi disasters. Damage to the spent nuclear fuel storage facility as a result of shelling can also lead to radioactive release. The Chornobyl nuclear site remains occupied by the Russian military. According to reports, the personnel has been held hostage for 10 days, without the possibility of leaving the facility. Specialists are tired morally and physically, as well as provided with a limited amount of food and medicine. Given the fact that Russian terrorists hold technically complex facilities such as nuclear power plants and do not know how to handle nuclear material safely, the danger threatens not only the entire region, but the world as a whole. The Ukrainian government called on the international community, represented by the IAEA and the EU, to ensure that peacekeeping groups consisting of representatives of the EU, IAEA and State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine arrive at all five NPPs in Ukraine. Energoatom also insists on the immediate intervention of the IAEA and the countries of ‘Nuclear Club’. The State Agency of Ukraine for Exclusion Zone Management requested the IAEA Director General to ensure demilitarization of the 30 km zone around Ukrainian NPPs, to present a position in favor of a no-fly zone over Ukraine, to limit Russia's access to the IAEA technical and human resources, and to facilitate the rotation of Chornobyl and ZNPP personnel. According to the government, the IAEA plans to arrive in Ukraine to inspect the nuclear power plant given the attack on the Zaporizhzhia NPP. It is also planned to conduct an inspection in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone. The EU High Representative Josep Borrell said that a direct threat to Ukraine's nuclear facilities from Russia could lead to a disaster and supported the convening of the UN Security Council over the shelling of the Zaporizhzhia NPP by Russian forces. Attacks: Zaporizhzhia NPP According to the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine, as of 08:00 on March 5, the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant was captured by the military forces of the Russian Federation. Despite this, the NPP personnel monitors the status of power units and ensures their operation. Two units are in operation: unit 4 (power capacity 980 MW) and unit 2, which was connected to the network at 18:49 on March 4 (loading up to 750 MW). Unit 1 is still in planned preventive maintenance, units 3, 5 and 6 are disconnected from the grid and being cooled. According to the acting president of Energoatom Petro Kotin, there is no control by the operating organization over the nuclear and radiation situation at the station. However, according to the latest data, the radiation background at the ZNPP site was normal. As a result of the fighting, the ZNPP satellite city Energodar was also damaged, especially the district heating infrastructure, leaving the city without heat and hot water supply. South-Ukraine NPP According to the NPP press service, as of 08:00 on March 5, the South-Ukraine NPP operates in the normal mode, there are no change in the performance of equipment and personnel. The radiation background is within normal standards. The situation at the station site and in the satellite city is calm. However, the SUNPP may become the next target of the invaders. In particular, the United States Ambassador Linda Thomas- Greenfield stated: "Russian forces are now 20 miles, and closing, from Ukraine’s second largest nuclear facility. So, this imminent danger continues". Sumy region The situation in the Sumy region remains complicated. As a result of missile and bomb attacks on the city of Sumy, there is no centralized water supply and citizens are forced to collect melting water in buckets. In Okhtyrka, boilers and engine room of the Okhtyrska CHP were destroyed, leaving the city without heating and partially without electricity. In the town of Lebedyn, power supply was not available for the second day due to destroyed power lines. Luhansk and Donetsk The cities of Severodonetsk, Lysychansk and Popasna (the regions Luhansk region) remain among the hottest points of war in the Eastern part of Ukraine. Russian aircrafts and artillery are destroying cities, shelling multi-apartment and private buildings, hospitals, schools, kindergartens and municipal institutions. Russian occupants are targetedly destroying engineering infrastructure and cutting off routes for evacuation, medicines and food supply. In the city of Mariupol (the Donetsk region), the evacuation of civilian population was to begin at 11:00 on March 4 with a "green" humanitarian corridor, however, the Russian side did not adhere to ceasefire, with the evacuation postponed. At the national level, the issue of providing humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of other settlements in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions is being addressed. Countermeasures of Ukrainian companies: Storage system operator Ukrtransgaz received the first set of Starlink equipment, which will provide the company's employees with a reserve channel of communication. At the same time, Ukrtransgaz reported, that from March 5, the operation of Krasnopopivske storage in the Luhansk region is suspended due to proximity of hostilities. Gas withdrawal was suspended and personnel was evacuated. Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine (GTSOU) and Polish TSO Gaz System S.A. agreed on the introduction of firm capacities for gas import to Ukraine beginning from March 6. Ukraine receives access to another gas supply route, which will lead to enhanced energy security. In the last 3 months, the Ukrainian TSO has concluded several agreements with neighboring TSOs, thus increasing firm import capacities to 50 mcm per day (approximately half of Ukraine’s needs). Meanwhile, the electricity TSO Ukrenergo warns consumers that any ‘flashmobs’ for massive simultaneous electricity switching-off as a gesture of support to Ukraine is just a provocation, as such ‘measures’ will significantly complicate balancing of the Ukrainian power system, which though doesn’t have any deficit of generating capacity. Disruption of supply: Gas The most complicated gas supply situation remains in the Donetsk, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Zaporizhzhia and Luhansk regions. As for now, DSO of the Kherson region did not provide operative information on the interruption or restoration of gas supply. According to GTSOU, as of March 4, 13 gas distributing stations are disconnected due to hostilities, hundreds of thousands consumers in Irpin, Borodianka, Hostomel, Stoyanka, Voznesensk, part of Chernihiv, Izium, Brazhkivka, Syrotyne, Krasnopopivka, Donske, Novotroitske, Prystan’, Oleshky and other localities were left without gas supply. The situation is critical in the city of Shchastya, the city of Toretsk is on the verge of gas supply disruption. According to Regional Gas Company group, as of March 4, gas supply to 9,000 consumers was restored. Most of them are located in Kharkiv (5,800) and Chernihiv (3,200) regions. At the same time, the number of consumers, disconnected from the group's networks, reached 29,000. On March 4, Kharkivgaz reported on the gas supply resumption to 12 localities (1,500 consumers) of the Kharkiv region. On the contrary, the number of households in the Izium district without access to gas reached 27,000. The gas supply situation significantly deteriorated in the Luhansk region. Local DSO published a number of reports on the gas infrastructure damages, which resulted in disruptions of supply to boilers of a children’s hospital and hospital campus. In some localities, the number of households disconnected from gas supply on March 4-5 reached several hundreds. The total number of consumers without gas, as of March 4, is 14,000. Naftogaz reports on 7,000 consumers without gas in the Donetsk region as of March 4, 20:00. Gas supply was restored to 100 families in Tokmak district of the Zaporizhzhia region. Electricity The situation in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia, Kherson, Sumy regions and in the cities around Kyiv remains the most difficult. In addition, large-scale power supply disconnections were recorded: • in the Zaporizhzhia region, 220 settlements (87,000 consumers) remain completely or partially without electricity supply, supplies to Vasylivka were resumed during the day; • in the Luhansk region: as of 19.30 on March 4, 541 substations (56,968 consumers), 20 settlements were partially disconnected, 31 - completely; • in the Kyiv region, DTEK announced the resumption of supplies for 8 settlements (3,000 consumers), 350 settlements (app. 90,000 residents) remain without electricity; • Sumy remains without electricity supply, supply for critical infrastructure facilities is restored. On the evening of March 4, Lebedyn and Okhtyrka (Sumy region) were left without electricity; • in the Kherson region, the city of Kherson and the city of Nova Kakhovka remain completely or partially without electricity, and work is underway to restore supply to certain areas of the city; • in the Donetsk region, as of 17:00 on March 4, Mariupol remains without electricity and heating. Sources: The alerts are developed based on collected, verified, and analyzed information reports of over 100 official sources: ministries, state agencies, network operators, and energy companies. Information was collected only from official websites and official social media accounts.
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