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It is reported that the installation is now running on emergency diesel generators.
As a result of the morning shelling of Kharkov, the nuclear subcritical installation “Neutron Source” was de-energized. According to the State Inspectorate for Nuclear Regulation, the emergency power supply system worked as normal: emergency diesel generators were put into operation, and the radiation situation at the site is now “within normal limits.”
The nuclear research facility “Neutron Source” operates on the basis of the National Scientific Center “Kharkov Institute of Physics and Technology”. It is an accelerator-controlled subcritical reactor primarily intended for scientific and applied research in the fields of nuclear physics, radiation materials science, biology, chemistry, and the production of medical radioisotopes.
Even at the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, personnel transferred the installation to a deep subcritical state. In March 2022, the building of the nuclear power plant “Neutron Source” was targeted – at that time, the northern wall of the accelerator extension to the experimental hall of the installation, ventilation ducts, the ventilation pipe of the main building, the cooling system of the accelerator klystron gallery, the housings of the diesel generators of the emergency power supply system and the casing of the main building were damaged. building. During further inspection of the industrial site, personnel discovered an item tentatively classified as an unexploded 9K58 Smerch MLRS rocket.
The building was shelled again on June 25, 2022, and finally on April 4, 2023, during an attack on Kharkov by “shaheds,” the installation lost external power supply.
“Despite the fact that in operating condition the installation does not pose any danger, at the same time, if for some reason physical destruction of this installation occurs, fuel and radioactive elements may escape, and this, of course, is a big problem for the environment . Actually, the picture is the same as at nuclear power plants…,” noted Nikolay Shulga, General Director of the NSC “Kharkov Institute of Physics and Technology” in a commentary to Suspilny.
Recall that on the night of March 22, Russia carried out the most massive attack on the Ukrainian energy infrastructure, among other things hitting the Dnieper Hydroelectric Power Station – at the same time, the temporarily occupied Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant was on the verge of a blackout. Kharkov's energy facilities were also damaged, which left 700 thousand subscribers without electricity – today's latest attack on the city by suicide bombers, in addition to a temporary blackout for the Neutron Source, led to the death of four people, including three employees of the State Emergency Service, and damage to residential buildings.
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