Ljubljana - The Nuclear Safety Administration said on Wednesday it had been notified by the IAEA of an extraordinary failure of the Kyiv-Chernobyl power line. It assessed that there would be no significant radioactive emissions and, consequently, no hazard for Slovenia even in the event of long-term loss of power supply for the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.

The failed power line is currently the only external source of electricity for the nuclear facilities at Chernobyl. Power supply required for the cooling of the spent fuel pool is now provided by diesel generators that have fuel for 48 hours of operation.

There is currently no information as to why the power line has failed and when it could resume operation, and there is no information on whether additional diesel fuel can be supplied to power the generators.

"Nevertheless, given the currently available information we estimate that not even a long-term loss of electricity supply would result in significant emissions into the environment and, consequently, hazard for Slovenia," the Nuclear Safety Administration said.

It added that, as part of the Western European Nuclear Regulators' Association (WENRA), it was working on preparing a detailed assessment of the possible consequences that could follow a complete loss of electricity supply for Chernobyl.

A possible accident in the spent fuel pool at Chernobyl would not have a far-reaching impact, though, and there would be no particular hazard for Slovenia, the administration noted.