IAEA Director General stresses urgent need to head off for ZNPP

IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi says the agency’s expert mission has to travel to the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) urgently in the wake of the report that the facility today temporarily lost connection to its last remaining operational 750 kilovolt (kV) external power line,

That’s according to a statement released by the IAEA press service, seen by Ukrinform.

“Almost every day there is a new incident at or near the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant. We can’t afford to lose any more time. I’m determined to personally lead an IAEA mission to the plant in the next few days to help stabilise the nuclear safety and security situation there,” Director General Grossi said.

The ZNPP, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, at least twice lost connection to the power line during the day but that it was currently up again. The ZNPP remained connected to a 330 kV line from the nearby thermal power facility that can provide back-up electricity if needed.

Ukraine also informed the IAEA that as a result of the cuts in the 750 kV power line, the ZNPP’s two operating reactor units were disconnected from the electricity grid and their emergency protection systems were triggered, while all safety systems remained operational.

All six units remained disconnected from the grid also after the power line was restored.

The six-reactor ZNPP normally has four external power lines, but three of them were lost earlier during the conflict.

A secure off-site power supply from the grid is essential for ensuring nuclear safety, the agency stressed. In the case of a loss of external power, the ZNPP – like other nuclear power plants around the world – still has diesel generators available to provide back-up power.

As part of his active consultations and preparations for the mission, the Director General met with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris earlier today.

As reported earlier, today’s event took place following a series of shellings in the vicinity of ZNPP, which remains under the control of the Russian invasion forces.