The external power supply of the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) was restored two days after being disconnected from the power grid due to shelling that damaged high-voltage lines. This was announced on Saturday, November 5, by the head of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi.
“Off-site power supply was restored at ZNPP two days after access to off-site power supply was cut off as a result of the latest incident, which showed the precariousness of the nuclear safety situation at the largest facility in Europe, said Director General Rafael Grossi,” he said.
According to the IAEA, two of the six units of the power plant have now been taken out of the “cold shutdown” mode.
Grossi recalled that he had repeatedly called for the creation of a security zone around the ZNPP territory.
“We must act before it’s too late,” he concluded in a statement posted on the official site IAEA.
Volodymyr Rogov, a member of the main council of the administration of the Zaporozhye region, announced the disconnection of the Zaporizhzhya NPP from the Ukrainian energy system on Thursday, November 3. According to him, earlier two power units of the nuclear power plant were transferred to the “hot shutdown” mode, which made it possible to restore heat supply in Energodar. After that, the Ukrainian side de-energized two lines of the station, and it switched to diesel generators.
On October 31, Rafael Grossi reported that a 750 kV external power line had been cut off due to a landmine explosion on October 30. In recent days, the IAEA noted, shelling has been carried out in the vicinity of the station. Thus, the shelling near the distribution stations of the thermal power plant temporarily disconnected one of the three reserve power transmission lines of the ZNPP, through which the city of Energodar receives electricity.
On November 2, Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Andrey Rudenko announced the study of the issue of creating a security zone around the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant. According to him, the main task is to prevent shelling from Kyiv.
Russia’s permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, also noted that Moscow supports Grossi’s initiative to create a protective zone around the ZNPP. At the same time, he pointed out that the question, “as always, is in the details.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed to transfer ZNPP under Russian control on October 5, and on October 8, the Russian government ordered the creation of FSUE Zaporozhye NPP.
Zaporozhye NPP is the largest NPP in Europe in terms of the number of units and installed capacity. Since the beginning of September, IAEA employees have been at the power plant. They arrived there on a mission after shelling of the ZNPP territory by Ukrainian troops.
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