“A strong shock crumbles the walls and the ceiling of the machine room. It is caused by an explosion, similar to a bomb. A transformer in oil of the second turbine/alternator group explodes for causes yet to be determined, just while the maintenance engineers are working. The water penetrated violently: in the jargon it is the lethal “hydraulic shock”. The same as for firedamp in coal mines. The automatic safety systems cut-off the other nine turbo-alternator groups. Two of the ten turbines are KO; a third one is seriously damaged. A water avalanche smashes in the department, floods the tunnels underneath. It is a massacre. The chief engineer Andrej Mitrofanov reported later a terrifying situation: ten casualties, eleven wounded and seventy-two missing. The power plant employs 437 workers; at that time over 100 were on duty”
Source: Repubblica 18 August 2009 page 14, L. Coen
The accident of 17th August 2009 at the Sayano-Sushenskaya power plant, the largest hydro electric power plant of the Russian Federation, went around the world. The majority of the Italian newspapers indicate as the cause of the disastrous accident “the explosion of a transformer in oil” (Vladimir Markin, spokesman of the investigation commission by the federal prosecution office).
Such catastrophic failure damaged the penstocks feeding the power plant, the electrical infrastructures, the roof and the walls of the underneath turbine room, causing an immediate flooding of the rooms occupied by the RusHydro personnel, operating the power plant.
The impact of this accident, based upon the information available, indicates a severe profile of damages:
- damages to persons (17 killed and 58 missing);
- damages to assets and infrastructures (estimated over 1 billion dollars for a complete rebuild);
- damages for the loss of production of energy, aluminium and other steel products (several billion dollars);
- environmental damages for the contamination by insulating oils, turbine hydraulic fluids and lubricants that could endanger the delicate eco-system of this sub arctic area (estimated over 80 sq km with contaminated surface waters).
As an additional consequence, the accident determined an immediate fall of the value of the stocks on international trading exchanges and a jump of the price of primary aluminium.
The production of energy by the power plant, operating since 1978 and the third one worldwide for the annual production of electricity, has been suspended. According to what communicated by a spokesman of RusHydro, operating the plant, the operations to restart the turbines not damaged by the accident shall require several weeks, whereas it will take months, if not years, to repair all the feeding penstocks and reintegrate the production of electric power.
The hydroelectric power plant of Sayano-Shushenskaya, in Southern Siberia, with a capacity of 6.400 MW is the main source of energy for 6 important mining and processing sites. Among them, there are two of the major producers of aluminium in the world: United Company Rusal and Evraz Group. Now there is a fear for repercussions at global level for a possible reduction of the production of raw materials. For this reason, RusHydro, controlled by U.C. Rusal, is diverting power supplies from two other power plants in the area.
Please find here below a list of articles extracted form on-line newspapers worldwide (18/08/2009):
- in italiano (click left and then on “« Visualizza tutti gli articoli di questa notizia” in the new page)
- in spagnolo (click left and then on “« Ver todos los artículos sobre esta noticia” in the new page)
- in inglese (da UK) (from UK) (click left and then on “« View all articles in this story” in the new page)
- in inglese (da USA) (from USA) (click left and then on “« View all articles in this story” in the new page)
- in francese (click left)
