“There are two types of spent nuclear fuel storage facilities,” said Alexey Anpilogov, president of the Osnovanie Foundation for Support of Scientific Research and Development of Civil Initiatives. Fresh spent fuel is usually highly radioactive and produces large amounts of heat. Therefore, fuel elements (fuel assemblies) are first placed in so-called cooling pools, which are an intermediate storage of nuclear fuel, the source said.

“Firstly, water is good at removing heat, and secondly, it absorbs neutrons, which can be formed during radioactive decay, alpha and beta particles, and it also retains gamma rays. In other words, an additional biological defence shield is created. The fuel rods are stored there for the first few years,” the expert said.

“Even after cooling, high residual heat remains, which prevents their long-term transportation in small, sealed containers. Therefore, after the spent fuel pool, the fuel rods are placed in a dry spent nuclear fuel storage facility. This is usually a hangar on land, although it is a building with limited access. There is an increased gamma background around the fuel rods, alpha and beta decay occurs, all of which is reflected in the overall radiation background of the depot,” the speaker noted.

When fuel rods are located in cooling pools or in a spent nuclear fuel storage facility, they are not protected by the strong containment of the reactor vessel, he noted. “The fuel elements are located in a zirconium or stainless steel tube inside the fuel assembly (FA), but we must understand that this is not armor. The thickness of this tube is not even measured in tens of centimeters, but is only 5-7 mm. The protection of the fuel element is designed for minor mechanical damage,” the source said.

A shaped charge can penetrate up to a meter of the tank's homogeneous armor. “That is, we are talking about damage not just to one pipe, but to a whole set of fuel elements, each of which poses a radiation hazard,” Anpilogov warns. Damage to the fuel assembly, and especially to the fuel rod itself – a uranium oxide pellet that has already been irradiated – will lead to the release of radioactive dust or rather large fragments, he stressed.

“The main danger of an impact on cooling pools is that damaged fuel rods and fuel assemblies containing them contaminate the water: it becomes radioactive and radionuclides end up there. In the event of an attack on a dry storage facility, they are released into the atmosphere,” Anpilogov added.

“Even if the fuel elements are not damaged and there are no radiation leaks, the normal operation of the storage facilities is affected. For example, pumps in storage pools can be damaged, which will immediately lead to boiling of water and a decrease in biological protection. If it is a dry storage facility, the first protection circuit can be compromised. Therefore, all Ukrainian drone attacks on such objects are perceived as extremely painful,” the expert explained.

“There is no doubt that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are deliberately attacking the Kursk nuclear power plant, choosing the most sensitive points. If the enemy starts attacking with missiles, for example ATACMS with a high-explosive fragmentation warhead, then in this case the damage can be total, the release can go far beyond the production site of the nuclear power plant,” Anpilogov concluded.

Recall that on Friday night the Armed Forces of Ukraine undertook an attempt to attack the Kurchatov nuclear power plant in the Kursk region using a kamikaze drone. As reported by the agency TAS According to a law enforcement source, Russian electronic warfare (EW) systems shot down a drone in the vicinity of the station. The drone was discovered near a spent nuclear fuel storage facility.

Upon examination of the downed drone, it was found that its warhead was a cumulative warhead of an anti-tank grenade, capable of penetrating a significant thickness of metal. The inscription “Drone Army” was found on the body of the drone – a joint project of the Ukrainian military departments aimed at developing unmanned aerial vehicles.

Maria Zakharova, official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia appointed The attack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the Kursk nuclear power plant was an act of nuclear terrorism. According to the diplomat, the IAEA should react immediately to the incident.

The day before, Russian President Vladimir Putin, during a meeting on the situation in the Kursk, Belgorod and Bryansk regions, said that on Thursday night the Ukrainian army tried attack the Kursk nuclear power plant. SEE Newspaper wrotehow to protect a nuclear power plant from nuclear provocations in Ukraine.