Back-up power line to ZNPP disconnected due to shelling – IAEA

A 330 kilovolt (kV) back-up power line to Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) was disconnected late yesterday due to damage caused by shelling,

This is said in a statement published on the website of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Friday, Ukrinform reports.

The latest incident “underlines the facility’s fragile supplies of electricity from the grid,” IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said. 

According to the IAEA, the ZNPP, whose six reactors are all in shutdown, continues to receive the off-site electricity it needs for reactor cooling and other essential nuclear safety and security functions from the plant’s only remaining operational 750 kV external power line, out of four such lines before the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

The team of IAEA experts present at the ZNPP reported that its connection to the 330 kV Ferosplavna 1 back-up line was lost at 21:35 local time yesterday as a result of damage on the other side of the Dnipro River, some distance away from the plant itself. The extent of damage was not yet clear but work to repair the line is already under way, the IAEA team added.

The Ferosplavna 1 was the ZNPP’s last functioning back-up power line and it is vital that it is restored as soon as possible, Director General Grossi said, reiterating that all military action potentially threatening the nuclear safety and security of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants must stop immediately.

The Director General said he is continuing his consultations with Ukraine and Russia aimed at agreeing and implementing a nuclear safety and security protection zone around the ZNPP as soon as possible.

As Ukrinform reported, all 9 power units of domestic nuclear power plants located in Ukrainian-controlled territory are operating at the highest available capacity

Russian troops captured the ZNPP on March 4. The invaders place military equipment and ammunition on its site, constantly shelling both the surrounding area and the plant itself, destroying power lines and causing external power outages. Moreover, they blame Ukraine’s Armed Forces for the attacks.

The Ukrainian authorities emphasize that to restore nuclear security, Russia must completely withdraw its troops and equipment from the Zaporizhzhia NPP.