The head of the IAEA during a visit to Zaporizhia NPP. Photo from the archive Ukraine: work has begun to restore external power supply to the Zaporozhye NPP Peace and security
At the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), Ukraine, technical work began yesterday to restore external power supply. Let us recall that Europe’s largest nuclear power plant has been deprived of external sources of electricity for almost a month, which has raised serious concerns about nuclear safety at the site.
This was announced by the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Mariano Grossi. After weeks of difficult negotiations, the Russian Federation and Ukraine agreed to the IAEA proposal to create temporary ceasefire zones around two specific areas on both sides of the front line in order to specialists could repair two power lines damaged during hostilities.
On Saturday morning, after demining was completed, work began on repairing two cables of the Ferosplavna-1 line with a voltage of 330 kilovolts, which was disconnected from the Zaporizhzhya NPP on May 7. Later this weekend, after the necessary demining work on the other side has been completed, repairs are scheduled to begin on the damaged section of the 750-kilovolt Dneprovskaya line, which was shut down on September 23. It was this outage that led to the station being completely de-energized.
IAEA Teams will monitor progress and report on repairs at both sites, located a few kilometers from the plant. The plant’s six reactors have been shut down since 2022, but they still require power to run the nuclear cooling pumps. fuel.
Finally there is light at the end of the tunnel. Both sides have worked constructively with us to make this possible
“The start of repair work is a significant step forward in our persistent efforts to restore external power supply to Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, which has been forced to rely on emergency diesel generators. Obviously this is not a sustainable situation,” Grossi said.
According to him, it will take some more time before the station is connected to the power grid again, since repairs will take about a week. “Finally there is light at the end of the tunnel. Both sides worked constructively with us to make this possible. There is a general understanding that the current situation is not beneficial to anyone. The process was complex because the power lines are located in an active combat zone, and we first needed to ensure the necessary safety conditions on site before proceeding with repairs,” said the head of the IAEA. functioning of key nuclear safety and physical protection systems. Another 13 generators are in standby mode.
The current outage of external power supply has become the tenth during the conflict and the longest. “Dependence on emergency Diesel generators are the last line of defense for nuclear power plants. What once seemed unthinkable has now become all too common. As long as this destructive conflict continues, nuclear safety and security remain under serious threat. Today we have a rare opportunity to deliver good news, but we are still far from a safe situation,” Grossi emphasized.