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Fire Extinguished at Ukraine Nuclear Plant, War Emphasizes Competition for Production of Neon Gas and Semiconductor-Grade Neon Supplies

March 4, 2022

 

Flare landing at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant during shelling in Enerhodar, Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine March 4, 2022	Ukraine war chess board: Is the neon gas the ultimate prize?

Semiconductor chip shortage supplies increases by the Ukraine war

 

Fire extinguished at key Ukrainian nuclear plant

RT News, 4 Mar, 2022, 06:41

Firefighters have successfully extinguished a massive fire at the six-reactor Zaporozhskaya Nuclear Power Plant in Energodar, southwestern Ukraine, local emergency services announced early on Friday.

“At 6:20 [local time], the fire in the training facility of Zaporozhskaya Nuclear Power Plant in Energodar was extinguished. There are no victims and casualties,” reported the State Emergency Service of Ukraine on their official Facebook page. 

It was earlier reported that the massive fire had been localized in an area of 2,000 square meters.

The fire at Zaporozhskaya Nuclear Power Plant broke out Thursday night at the training facility situated next to the station.

It was originally reported by Energodar’s mayor that the fire had been caused by Russian shelling. It was also reported that the blaze had engulfed the power plant itself, but the emergency services dismissed these claims.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky issued a statement on Friday morning, expressing concern about the incident, which could become “a second Chernobyl or even worse.”

“We’ve contacted leaders, our partners. I talked to Charles Michel, Olaf Scholz, I talked to [Andrzej] Duda, talked to President Biden. We contacted IAEA’s Grossi, and also Prime Minister [Boris] Johnson. We are warning everyone,” he said in his video address.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said no “essential equipment” had been damaged at the plant, with no change in radiation levels reported.

Zaporozhskaya is one of the biggest nuclear plants in Europe. It was reported earlier this week that the facility had been captured by Russian forces, and that staff were continuing to work as normal, while monitoring radiation levels. 

Last week, Moscow took control of the defunct Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant and released a short video of a Russian and a Ukrainian soldier in combat uniform watching surveillance cameras and motion detectors in the area.

Russia ordered its troops into Ukraine last week, describing the invasion as aimed at “demilitarizing” and “denazifying” the government in Kiev and stopping what it called the “genocide” in the two breakaway regions of Donetsk and Lugansk. Ukraine has accused Moscow of an unprovoked offensive, with the US and NATO allies following suit.

Fire extinguished at key Ukrainian nuclear plant — RT Russia & Former Soviet Union

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Fire extinguished at Ukraine nuclear power plant, Europe's largest

By Pavel Polityuk , Aleksandar Vasovic  and John Irish

Intense fighting in area around huge nuclear plant No signs of elevated radiation - U.S. Energy Sec U.S and UK hit oligarchs with further sanctions

LVIV, Ukraine/KYIV/PARIS, March 4, 2022 (Reuters) -

A huge blaze at the site of Europe's biggest nuclear power station was extinguished on Friday, and officials said the plant in southeastern Ukraine was operating normally after it was seized by Russian forces in fighting that caused global alarm.

Separately, a presidential advisor said Ukraine had halted an advance on the city of Mykolayiv after local authorities said Russian troops had entered. If captured, the city of 500,000 people in southern Ukraine, where Russian forces have made the most progress so far, would be the biggest yet to fall.

Officials said the fire at the Zaporizhzhia compound was in a training centre, not at the plant itself. An official at Energoatom, the state enterprise that runs Ukraine's four nuclear plants, said there was no further fighting, the fire was out, radiation was normal and Russian forces were in control.

"Personnel are on their working places providing normal operation of the station," the official told Reuters in a message.

He said his organisation no longer had communication with the plant's managers, control over the radiation situation there or oversight of potentially dangerous nuclear material in its six reactors and about 150 containers of spent fuel.

Russia's defence ministry also said the plant was working normally. It blamed the fire on a "monstrous attack" by Ukrainian saboteurs and said its forces were in control.

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, said the plant was undamaged from what he believed was a Russian projectile. Only one reactor was working, at around 60% of capacity.

He described the situation as still tense, with the plant operating normally, adding: "There is nothing normal about this."

A video from the plant verified by Reuters had earlier shown one building aflame, and a volley of incoming shells, before a large incandescent ball lit up the sky, exploding beside a car park and sending smoke billowing across the compound.

The prospect that fighting could cause a potential nuclear disaster had set world financial markets tumbling.

Russia's grip on a plant that provides more than a fifth of Ukraine's electricity was a big development after eight days of war in which other Russian advances have been stalled by fierce resistance.

U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and other Western officials said there was no indication of elevated radiation levels.

"Europeans, please wake up. Tell your politicians – Russian troops are shooting at a nuclear power plant in Ukraine," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a video address. In another address, he called on Russians to protest. read more

Thousands of people are believed to have been killed or wounded and more than 1 million refugees have fled Ukraine since Feb. 24, when Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the biggest attack on a European state since World War Two.

Surveillance camera footage shows a flare landing at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant during shelling in Enerhodar, Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine March 4, 2022, in this screengrab from a video obtained from social media. Zaporizhzhya NPP via YouTube/via REUTERS

Russian forces advancing from three directions have besieged Ukrainian cities, pounding them with artillery and air strikes. Moscow says its aim is to disarm its neighbour and capture leaders it calls neo-Nazis. Ukraine and its Western allies call that a baseless pretext for a war to conquer the country of 44 million people.

Russia had already captured the defunct Chernobyl plant north of Kyiv, which spewed radioactive waste over much of Europe when it melted down in 1986. The Zaporizhzhia plant is a different and safer type.

FIGHTING RAGES, SANCTIONS MOUNT

In Russia itself, where Putin's main opponents have largely been jailed or driven into exile, the war has been accompanied by a further crackdown on dissent. Authorities have banned reports that refer to the "special military operation" as a "war" or "invasion". Anti-war demonstrations have been squelched with thousands of arrests.

On Friday, the authorities shut down foreign broadcasters including the BBC, Voice of America and Deutsche Welle. Independent Russian broadcasters, TV Dozhd (Rain) and Ekho Moskvy radio, were shuttered on Thursday. The lower house of parliament introduced legislation on Friday to impose jail terms on people for spreading "fake" reports about the military. read more

Russia has been subjected to economic isolation never before visited on such a large economy, although a big exception has been carved out for its oil and gas exports. Ireland's foreign minister, Simon Coveney, said more EU sanctions were coming.

"I suspect all Russian-flagged ships will be banned from entering EU ports. I also suspect that we'll be banning other imports like steel, timber, aluminium and possibly coal as well," Coveney told Irish national broadcaster RTE.

Only one Ukrainian city, the southern port of Kherson, has fallen to Russian forces since the invasion began on Feb. 24.

Local authorities in the shipbuilding city of Mykolayiv told residents not to panic and Zelenskiy's military adviser, Oleksiy Arestovych, said the Russian advance there had been halted.

"We can feel cautious optimism about the future prospects of the enemy offensive - I think that it will be stopped in other areas also," he said

Loud explosions could be heard in Kyiv on Friday morning and an air raid siren blared. The southeastern port city of Mariupol has been encircled and subjected to intense strikes, Britain said in an intelligence update.

In the northeast, along another major axis of the Russian attack, the cities of Kharkiv and Chernihiv have been under bombardment since the start of the invasion which worsened sharply this week, but defenders are holding out.

Kyiv, the capital of 3 million people, has been shelled but has so far been spared a major assault, with Russia's main attack force stalled for days in a miles-long convoy on a highway to the north. In Washington, a U.S. defence official said Russians were still 25 km (16 miles) from Kyiv city centre.

On Thursday, Russia and Ukraine negotiators agreed at peace talks on the need for humanitarian corridors to help civilians escape and to deliver medicines and food to areas of fighting.

Reporting by Pavel Polityuk, Natalia Zinets, Aleksandar Vasovic in Ukraine, John Irish in Paris, Francois Murphy in Vienna, David Ljunggren in Ottawa and other Reuters bureaux; Writing by Peter Graff, Costas Pitas, Lincoln Feast; Editing by Stephen Coates, Simon Cameron-Moore and Timothy Heritage

Fire extinguished at Ukraine nuclear power plant, Europe's largest | Reuters

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EU eyes more Russia sanctions, NATO wary of Ukraine calls for no-fly zone

By Simon Lewis  and Sabine Siebold

BRUSSELS, March 4, 2022 (Reuters) -

The European Union will step up sanctions against Russia, foreign ministers gathered in Brussels said on Friday, but they resisted Kyiv's calls for military action that would risk dragging the NATO military alliance into the war.

In Brussels for talks with NATO and EU peers, the bloc's top diplomat Josep Borrell said that all options remained on the table with regard to new sanctions against Russia for the invasion of its neighbor Ukraine.

"We will consider everything," Borrell told reporters when asked about the possible suspension of the EU's gas imports from Russia.

Ireland's Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said a fourth round of sanctions could affect more Russian banks' access to the SWIFT international transfer system, bar Russian ships from European ports and cut imports from Russia.

"I also suspect that we'll be banning other imports like steel, timber, aluminium and possibly coal as well," he said.

It was not immediately clear, however, when the 27-nation EU would be able to agree on exact measures given member states' divisions on doing business with Moscow and some countries' heavy reliance on Russian energy supplies.

"Each day the west is importing energy from Russia to the tune of $700m," Eurointelligence think-tank said in a note.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has called for Western allies to enforce a no-fly zone since Moscow's invasion started nine days ago, with Russia shelling cities and bringing fighting to Europe's largest nuclear plant.

Western powers have already punished Russia including with restrictions on central bank activities and by seizing assets from billionaire oligarchs.

NATO members have sent arms to Ukraine, but stopped short of military action that would put them in direct conflict with nuclear-armed Russia.

On Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the alliance would defend "every inch" of NATO territory from attack. Ukraine, a former Soviet republic and Moscow satellite that wants to join the European Union and the Western military club, is not a currently a member of either.

"Ours is a defensive alliance. We seek no conflict. But if conflict comes to us, we are ready for it," Blinken said.

While some NATO countries indicated a willingness to discuss a no-fly zone, they made clear their reservations.

Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said that NATO must avoid triggering a wider conflict. France's presidential office described the request for a no-fly zone as "very difficult to satisfy."

NUCLEAR SCARE

Putin launched his "special military operation" to get rid of what he said was Ukraine's fascist government and demilitarize the country. Zelenskiy says Moscow is trying to prevent a liberal democracy flourishing on Russia's border.

"The truth is: It is not NATO that is threatening Putin but the desire for freedom in Ukraine. He wants to break this urge for freedom - in Ukraine, and also in his own country," German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said.

In a sign of the escalating dangers of the war, a huge blaze at the site of Europe's biggest nuclear power station in Ukraine was extinguished on Friday after fighting that caused global alarm. Officials said the Zaporizhzhia plant was operating normally after it was seized by Russian forces.

Baerbock said nuclear infrastructure must stay out of the war. She added the 27-nation EU would give Ukraine humanitarian aid and shelter its refugees, as well as moving ahead with more sanctions against Russia.

On Thursday, Zelenskiy said that if allies wouldn't meet his request to protect Ukrainian air space, they should instead provide Kyiv with more war planes.

"We have 15 nuclear units so these units, two in the east are close to the front line of war. It's not just a Ukrainian question," Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko told Reuters. "We are fighting. We will fight to the end."

Reporting by Sabine Siebold, Bart Meijer, Francesco Guarascio, Philip Blenkinsop, John Irish, Simon Lewis, Writing by Gabriela Baczynska; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel

EU eyes more Russia sanctions, NATO wary of Ukraine calls for no-fly zone | Reuters

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If Ukraine’s neon exports flag, the chip shortage will get worse

LIM HUEY TENG / REUTERS Semiconductor chips are etched into silicon or other materials using neon lasers. FROM OUR OBSESSION Beyond Silicon Valley The next big battles in tech are happening outside the Bay Area.

By Samanth Subramanian

Looking into the Future of Capitalism

QZ, February 28, 2022

Ukraine produces around 70% of global neon gas exports, and a purified version of that gas is so crucial to the semiconductor industry that the Russia-Ukraine war threatens to disrupt supplies and make the ongoing microchip shortage even worse.

Chip manufacturers employ lasers to etch hyperfine circuit patterns onto wafers of silicon. The lasers work by exciting the atoms of noble gases to generate light in specific wavelengths, and neon often makes up 95% or more of the laser’s gaseous contents. The neon has to be refined to a 99.999% purity for this purpose—a niche process that very few plants in the world carry out.

Among these is Iceblick, a 32-year-old company in Odessa that supplies 65% of the world’s neon. Like other neon purifiers, Iceblick takes in gases that are byproducts of steel manufacturing and other metallurgical industries. In the Soviet era, many of these plants—which continue to be in use today—were equipped with air separation units, which fed oxygen and nitrogen to the steelmaking process but also captured neon, an otherwise rare gas that only makes up 18.2 parts per million in the atmosphere.

Why does Ukraine make so much of the world’s neon?

The Soviet Union had invested heavily in the neon capture process, a 2018 German government white paper (pdf) explains, “because it was believed to be required for the intended production of laser weapons for missile and satellite defense purposes.” As older steel plants and air separation units elsewhere in the world shut down, Ukraine and Russia took ever-larger shares of the neon export market.

After Russia annexed the Ukrainian region of Crimea in 2014, neon supplies dwindled and prices shot up; at their peak, the market cost of neon was 10 times what it was before the invasion. Some companies started programs to shrink their neon consumption. Whole shutdowns of chip foundries in Japan and elsewhere appeared imminent, two industry professionals wrote in a case study.

A similar shock today will further hamper the semiconductor industry’s attempt to supply all the microchips that the world needs for its various products: toys, cars, planes, phones, watches, and practically every other even remotely smart device.

In a statement, the Semiconductor Industry Association said that the industry has “a diverse set of suppliers of key materials and gases,” and that the Ukraine crisis poses no “immediate” disruption risks. But most makers of memory chips hold around eight weeks’ inventory of neon, according to Peter Lee, a Citi Research analyst. A prolonged war could extinguish those stocks and present fresh worries for a chip-starved world.

If Ukraine's neon exports flag, the chip shortage will get worse — Quartz (qz.com)

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Ukraine supplies 90% of U.S. semiconductor-grade neon (and what it means to chip supply chain)

By Tim Keary

Venture Beat, February 24, 2022 1:51 PM

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, experts warn that the conflict could impact the global chip industry and exacerbate current chip shortages. 

According to research firm Techcet, Ukraine supplies more than 90% of the U.S.’s semiconductor-grade neon, a gas integral to the lasers used in the chip-making process, while Russia supplies 35% of the U.S.’s palladium supply, a rare metal that can be used to create semiconductors. 

While the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) argues “the semiconductor industry has a diverse set of key materials and gases, so we do not believe there are immediate supply disruption risks related to Russia and Ukraine,” the long-term impact of the conflict remains unclear. 

With such a high amount of the U.S.’s semiconductor-grade neon supplied by the Ukraine, the conflict is placing increasing pressure on a supply chain that’s already made it difficult to source chips for hardware and enterprise applications throughout the pandemic. 

The long-term impact of semiconductor neon shortage

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine comes after the demand for chips has increased across the board throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, as consumers and enterprises have demanded greater access to electronics. 

For enterprises, demand for chips that specialize in artificial intelligence for machine learning training and inference is predicted to grow at over 50% annually across all computing categories for the next few years. 

While entities like the South Korean government have invested $451 billion in semiconductor development and Intel invested $20 billion in two new semiconductor foundries to combat the chip shortage, the U.S. government has warned that the global chip supply chain remains weak. 

“We are glad that the companies [Intel, Ford, GM] have been looking for creative solutions, because the private sector is best-positioned to address bottlenecks,” Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo wrote in a blog post last month. “But the semiconductor supply chain remains fragile and it is essential that Congress move swiftly to pass the President’s proposed $52 billion in chips funding as soon as possible.”

Within the post, Raimondo noted that the median inventory of chips fell from 40 days in 2019 to less than five days in 2022 and that most chip fabs are running at more than 90% utilization. 

Some of the key bottlenecks she identified included legacy logic chips used in automobiles and medical devices as well as analog chips used in power management, image sensors, radio frequency and other applications. The loss of fabs in the Ukraine would greatly impact this shortage. 

This means there’s a need for more fabs to produce semiconductors, which is why the House of Representatives recently put forward its version of the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (USICA) with $52 billion in domestic semiconductor funding. 

Ukraine supplies 90% of U.S. semiconductor-grade neon (and what it means to chip supply chain) | VentureBeat

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