The power supply was cut to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant on Wednesday, Ukrainian authorities said, blaming Russia’s invading forces for the blackout and warning that it could lead to “nuclear discharge.”

The U.N.-backed global nuclear watchdog agency, the IAEA, downplayed concerns of an imminent radioactive release, but a Ukrainian national emergency services agency said if power to the plant’s cooling systems, which prevent spent nuclear fuel from evaporating, is not ensured, it could leave winds to blow a “radioactive cloud to other regions of Ukraine, Belarus, Russia and Europe.”

I find it interesting and more than a little worrisome that the IAEA is downplaying the issues, yet also admitting that they no longer have the ability to monitor the plant. Why? Because their monitoring systems are ALSO offline. 

Speaking to the BBC on Wednesday, Ukraine’s Minister for Energy Herman Halushchenko, said authorities in Kyiv could not confirm anything about the status of the Chernobyl facility due to the monitoring systems being down. He stressed that the power supply needed to be fixed “as quickly as we can,” but added that Chernobyl, like all Ukrainian nuclear plants, has a system of diesel generators designed to run essential systems in the event of electricity cuts.

“It has possibility to maintain for several days using the diesel generators,” Halushchenko told the BBC.

Ok. Great. Generator back up is crucial in this. HOWEVER, there’s a catch. More than one. 

A. What if Russian troops do not allow those diesel generators to be resupplied? I mean, they may confiscate the fuel for their own military transports! Then what?

B. It sure sounds like Halushchenko is guesstimating at the moment, unless he has full knowledge of how full those generator tanks are. 

Reserve diesel generators have a 48-hour capacity to power the Chornobyl NPP. After that, cooling systems of the storage facility for spent nuclear fuel will stop, making radiation leaks imminent. Putin’s barbaric war puts entire Europe in danger. He must stop it immediately! 2/2

— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) March 9, 2022

Thus my point above. If Russia is blocking access to refueling those generators, and blocking access to get the plant back online.. 

Needless to say, this is a significant issue that, unless dealt with, doesn’t bode well for Ukraine, Russia, or anyone else for that matter. 

History has already shown us what can happen if mistakes are made. Chernobyl demonstrated that in spades. Now, however, if it’s an issue caused by Russian troops standing in the way as ordered by Putin, this should put NATO countries along with those of Belarus and others on high alert. 

Meanwhile, as I wonder when the oligarchs are going to finally say ENOUGH, Kremlin officials are reportedly beyond pissed at what Putin is doing. 

Kremlin officials are ‘privately denouncing’ Vladimir Putin’s ‘clusterf**k’ invasion as US officials warned that the isolated Russian despot could lash out in anger at Ukraine’s fierce resistance by using small nuclear weapons on some of its cities.

Russian journalist Farida Rustamova, who was well-connected in government circles before fleeing the country as the Kremlin launched a sweeping crackdown on dissent, has claimed that officials in Moscow never believed that Putin would go to war.

They are now allegedly making ‘apocalyptic’ forecasts about the weeks and months ahead as fighting grinds on and punitive sanctions bite.

When asked how Russian politicians were reacting to the crisis, one source told Rustamova: ‘They’re carefully enunciating the word clusterf**k. No one is rejoicing. Many understand that this is a mistake, but in the course of doing their duty they come up with explanations in order to somehow come to terms with it.’

Putin is dangerous on this matter. Why? Because he’s been isolated and is power mad. He wants the good ole days of Tsarist Russia, not the KGB days as I previously surmised. Nope, he wants to reboot the Russian Empire and has exactly zero concern for the economic or nuclear impact of his actions. 

Putin is well on track to single-handedly cripple the Russian economy and country on multiple fronts. He’s threatening to use small arms nukes against Ukraine, even as the 40 mile convoy is stuck in the mud in Ukraine. Chernobyl is offline with no estimated time of turning back on, and he’s supposedly going to have Russia “go dark” by moving all internet access to internal Russian servers, which would further isolate the Russian people from the world.

 Needless to say, having Chernobyl offline right now is just one of multiple issues of grave concern regarding Putin’s increasingly erratic behavior. 

Keep in mind, Russia’s handling of the original Chernobyl crisis was one of massive incompetence. Given the events of the last two weeks as “managed” by Putin, is it any wonder that having this plant offline has alarm bells ringing?

Feature Photo Credit: Chernobyl monument and power plant via Pixabay, cropped and modified