Due to the criminal actions of Russians, reagents continue to sip from the first circuit to the second one at Zaporizhzhya NPP Unit 5, Ukraine's atomic energy operator Energoatom has said.
The incident occurred when the unit was being transferred into a "hot" mode. This is a violation of the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine's licence and Energoatom's requirements.
"Despite the violations, the occupying authorities are in no hurry to transfer the unit to a cold shutdown state, using the steam generated by Unit 5 for heating and meeting the plant's own needs. Due to the incompetence of the Russian personnel, in particular the shift supervisor of the chemical shop, who lost control over the saturation of the special water treatment filters, the water of the first circuit with a boric acid solution gets into the deaerator of the turbine house, and from there again to all steam generators," the company said.
Energoatom said that this could lead to a loss of integrity of the steam generator tubes, which runs against the regulations for the safe operation of the nuclear power unit.
Energoatom CEO Petro Kotin said that due to such actions, the Russians cause constant degradation of the equipment, which leads to an increase in dangerous cases of its failures and in the future - to an emergency situation," Energoatom said.
Earlier, a hazard was recorded at Unit 4. As a result of its heating, radioactive coolant (water) leaked from the first to the second circuit, which is a violation of one of the barriers to the spread of radioactive contamination, the company said.
The same situation occurred when the Russians tried to "warm up" Unit 6. Their decision to put it into a "hot" mode caused a significant increase in liquid radioactive waste at the plant site, which poses a potential harm to personnel, the public and the environment.
Earlier, Energoatom said that a partial blackout occurred on 14 November due to the incompetence of the Russian invaders and Rosatom employees.
There was a power outage at ZNPP Unit 6, which resulted in the launch of diesel generators and security systems that operated for 90 minutes. At the time, the Russian management of the plant was investigating the causes of the blackout and deciding what to do about the consequences of their incompetent actions.
According to Ukrainian military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov, the Russians had previously planned to carry out a controlled release of radiation at ZNPP.