Accident at Reftinskaya GRES: causes and photos of damages

The accident at Reftinskaya GRES has become a serious test for the entire energy system of our country. Until now, the representatives of the commission established to investigate its causes can not give an unambiguous answer as to the reasons for this incident.

The own investigation was conducted not only by such agencies as the Ministry of Energy, and the Federal Rostechnadzor. The investigation into the accident at Reftinskaya GRES was also conducted by journalists, having visited the site of the tragedy, having communicated with the management of this station, and also having heard the opinion of independent experts.

Tragedy at the station

The fire, which occurred on August 22 this year at two o'clock in the afternoon, was the result of a splash of molten metal. An accident occurred at Reftinskaya GRES due to the destruction of the isolator. Such a statement sounded as if there had been no tragedy and life at the station was on a regular basis.

Version of the Ministry of Energy

The most complete version of the events happened was information provided by the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation. The accident at Reftinskaya GRES is considered as a cause of destruction of the capacitor of the high-voltage line (220 kV). As a result, there was an oil release, the tire section disconnected during its ignition. At the station, the power output was reduced from a maximum of 2295 MW to zero.

Effects of power loss

The accident at Reftinskaya GRES led to the instantaneous operation of automatic protection systems. All the high-voltage lines that exit from this station are disconnected. Reftinskaya GRES (the accident in 2016, to be more precise) provoked numerous cascading outages throughout the country.

The power systems of many Russian regions had to switch to an isolated system of work. In the end, the accident at Reftinskaya GRES left six Siberian regions without full power supply at once. It took a lot of effort to return to normal operation of the power system.

Expert opinion

Arguing about what kind of accident occurred at Reftinskaya GRES, experts agree that this is one of the biggest technogenic catastrophes in the post-Soviet space.

As the main reason for the massive shocks that have occurred, they call the coupling capacitor. This bar length of two meters, which has insulating ceramic rings, contained molten oil inside.

There is no exact information about whether the condenser exploded, but it is in it the main causes of the accident at Reftinskaya GRES. Work of experts continues, other possible causes of ignition at the station are established.

Opinion of local people

Residents of the nearest village of Reftinsky learned from their relatives that an accident had occurred at Reftinskaya GRES. Photo of damage they saw only in the newspapers. When the journalists who came to these places for the purpose of conducting their own independent investigation, began to ask the inhabitants of this locality about the tragedy, all of them, without hesitation, answered that there was an explosion of the oil condenser. Such unanimity caused doubts among press representatives, they decided to go to the scene of the incident.

Place of the accident

The picture, which appeared before the journalists, was depressing. As a result of the release of molten oil in the territory of a dozen square kilometers, the earth was completely burnt. From the road, the place of the tragedy was perfectly visible.

Near the fence, on which the barbed wire was stretched, the grass was scorched. It was here that the oil splashed from the condenser was burning. Eyewitnesses say that first there was a loud explosion, then there was a crack.

Journalistic investigation

Many locals observed sparks from the electric arc, as a short circuit occurred on the nearest sections of the wire. People say that the impression was created, as if the whole sky was filled with sparks.

This is a confirmation of how serious the accident at Reftinskaya GRES was. The photos taken immediately after the tragedy confirm the scale of the tragedy that took place. The journalists who conducted their independent investigation did not manage to photograph the consequences of the accident.

Representatives of the security service of Reftinskaya GRES informed the press that this station is a strategic object, therefore any photo and video shooting is prohibited. After intervention in the current situation of the press service of PJSC "Enel Russia", the direct owner of this power station, it was possible to settle the conflict situation.

After clarifying the personalities of the journalists, the station security officer gave permission for photographing the accident site. It was these cadres that were published, attracted the attention of Russian environmentalists. Residents of the village of Reftinsky believe that they just got lucky. If the system did not work at the station, the consequences of the accident would have been much larger.

In his interview, Oleg Kosmenyuk, who holds the post of Deputy General Director of Enel Russia, noted that immediately after he received information about the accident, he flew to Ekaterinburg. According to his version, on the open distribution device, designed for 220 kW, there was a complete destruction of the coupling capacitor.

As a result, there was a short circuit, spread over tires rated at 220 kW. At the time of the tragedy, six energy blocks participated in the full-scale work.

Thanks to the modern automatic protection systems available at this station, after the technological blockage has been triggered, it was possible to phase out all power units in stages. By such actions, any possibilities for continuing the accident were eliminated.

The situation at the station is currently

The system operator was asked to switch all eight power units into normal operation. Literally a few days after the tragedy, the sixth unit was operational, then the second block returned to normal schedule.

On Wednesday, August 24, the station restored its original mode of operation. Thanks to the well-coordinated work of professional power engineers, we managed to cope with the emergency situation in minimum time.

Professional version

Engineers answer cautiously to journalists' questions about whether a more serious and powerful explosion could have happened, were it not for the professionalism of the employees and the automation of the station. They told the press that they are always ready for any emergency situations and are working to create a complete system of measures aimed at improving the station's protection.

Safety first

Particular attention is paid to the constant training of personnel, conducting emergency drills. During such exercises, various problem situations are simulated, allowing staff to improve their practical skills and understand the behavior in the event of a non-emergency situation.

After the completion of the training sessions, the actions of each station employee must be considered, all shortcomings are analyzed, so that the next time they are not repeated.

Experts say that it was thanks to the well-coordinated work of the station's staff that it was able to quickly cope with the current emergency situation and prevent human casualties. In the course of the investigation, the journalists found out that in September 2000 the emergency situation had already occurred at Reftinskaya GRES.

Employees of the station confirmed this fact and noted that in both cases, planting of the station to the zero phase, that is, switching off the power supply, was taken to eliminate serious consequences.

That is why all training sessions with working personnel, systematically conducted by labor protection specialists, deal with the actions of employees in the event of an emergency situation in this scenario.

Conclusion

One of the versions of the accident that was considered by various expert commissions was the abnormally high temperature that was established at that time in the region. A direct response to the existing connection between the exploded capacitor and the abnormal temperature during the investigation was not revealed.

Specialists who have an idea of the operation of such equipment claim that one of the causes of the emergency can be a hidden defect (a marriage of equipment), as well as a violation of the rules of operation, poor installation of installations. Experts explain that when installing power equipment of this class, third-party organizations are mainly involved.

Due to the fact that the warranty period has already been completed, it will be difficult to hold them accountable. Also, experts note the need for systematic monitoring of the station's condition and the expediency of conducting timely preventive works.

Professional energy does not exclude the possibility of negative effects on normal operation of capacitors of abnormally high air temperature. They are convinced that natural conditions could become an additional factor, which together with the human resource led to an emergency situation. They explain their position on the basis of the course of secondary school in physics. During heating, the oil is expanded, which can cause an explosion.

Its position on the tragedy, its consequences for wildlife has not yet been voiced by environmentalists. They continue to analyze the changes observed in the region in order to assess the seriousness of the accident at the GRES. The investigation of the accident at Reftinskaya GRES continues.