Atomic watchdog loses contact with SECOND Ukraine nuclear site: Captured Zaporizhzhia power station goes offline after it emerged Chernobyl could be just 48 HOURS from leaking radiation

• Warning systems at Zaporizhzhia power plant have stopped issuing updates

• IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said he was 'concerned about the sudden interruption'

• Earlier Ukraine said Chernobyl could be 48 hours away from leaking radiation

• State-run nuclear company Energoatom said it cannot cool spent nuclear fuel

• The spent fuel is stored away in metal containers cooled in a large pool of water

• But without electricity, the water cannot be kept at the necessary temperatures

• Electricity is also used to power ventilators, and for monitoring radiation levels

• Work to restore power has not been possible due to Russian control of plant

Nuclear safety watchdogs have lost contact with the captured Zaporizhzhia power plant, just hours after warning of a potential unfolding disaster at Chernobyl.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said warning systems at Zaporizhzhia had stopped broadcasting updates in the days since Russian forces shelled the site.

The announcement came after the watchdog said they had also lost touch with its systems that monitor nuclear material at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant - two weeks after Russian forces took control of the site.

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said he was 'concerned about the sudden interruption' of the data flows to the watchdog's Vienna headquarters.

He added that the reason for the disruption in updates was not clear but the IAEA was still receiving data from other nuclear facilities in Ukraine, including three other operational nuclear power plants.

Earlier Ukraine said Chernobyl could be 48 hours away from leaking radiation, and called on Russia to observe an urgent ceasefire to allow for repairs to be made.

The country's nuclear company Energoatom earlier warned that radioactive substances could be released if an electricity outage at the site continues any longer, as it makes it impossible to cool spent nuclear fuel.

Russian forces captured the plant and cut the power in the early days of the invasion.

It has not been possible to make repairs at the plant since, and the plant is currently running on emergency back-up generators that are powered by diesel.

The French government said it was in contact with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and was urging Russia to co-operate.

'Reserve diesel generators have a 48-hour capacity to power the Chornobyl NPP,' Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in a warning on Twitter.

'After that, cooling systems of the storage facility for spent nuclear fuel will stop, making radiation leaks imminent.'

Energoatom has said that work to repair the connection and restore power to the plant - the site of the world's biggest nuclear disaster in 1996 - has not been possible because fighting is under way in the region.

The company said there were about 20,000 spent fuel assemblies at Chernobyl that could not be kept cool amid a power outage.

Their warming could lead to 'the release of radioactive substances into the environment. The radioactive cloud could be carried by wind to other regions of Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, and Europe,' it said in a statement.

Without power, ventilation systems at the plant would also not be working, exposing staff to dangerous doses of radiation, it added.

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Russia took control of the defunct atomic plant on the first day of the invasion and has since captured a second nuclear site - Zaporizhzhia - the biggest in Europe.

Energy operator Ukrenergo also said their power has been entirely cut to the plant and its security systems.

The plant 'was fully disconnected from the power grid,' Ukrenergo said in a statement on its Facebook page, adding that military operations meant 'there is no possibility to restore the lines'.

The recent developments have now added increasing concern about safety and security around the region.

The IAEA said: 'These recent developments added to the IAEA's growing concerns about the safety, security and safeguards impact of the conflict in Ukraine on the country's nuclear facilities, including its four operating nuclear power plants as well as the Chernobyl site.'

Director General Rafael Grossi at the IAEA said: 'The remote transmission of data from IAEA safeguards equipment located at nuclear sites around the world is an important component of our safeguards implementation, in Ukraine and globally.

'Such systems are installed in several facilities in Ukraine, including all nuclear power plants, and enable us to monitor nuclear material and activities at these sites when our inspectors are not present.'

Last week staff at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant were captured on video pleading with Russian soldiers directing fire on the building before they overtook it.

The nuclear power plant, which creates around 20 percent of Ukraine's electricity, was captured after a fierce gun battle between Russian President Vladimir Putin's men and Ukrainian defenders that sparked a fire in a six-story training building.

Eventually, emergency crews were allowed to go in and douse the flames at the Zaporizhzhia plant before Russian troops moved in and occupied the site.

The United Nation's nuclear monitoring agency said that, fortunately, none of the site's six reactors had been directly damaged and radiation levels remained normal.

France on Wednesday said it was in contact with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as it seeks to assess the situation at Chernobyl.

'We are trying to clarify these reports together with the International Atomic Energy Agency,' said government spokesman Gabriel Attal, who added that France was asking Russia to co-operate.

A German environment ministry spokesperson had said on Wednesday that Germany had no knowledge of radiation leaking from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine.

French President Emmanuel Macron had urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to ensure the protection and security of Ukraine's nuclear sites, during talks between the two over the weekend.

The IAEA said later on Wednesday it saw 'no critical impact on safety' from the power cut at the decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine.

Cont’d in Article – MANY VIDEOS

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10593867/Ukraine-warns-Chernobyl-radiation-risk-power-connection-severed.html