The agency’s Director General, Rafael Mariano Grossi, said: “The restoration of off-site power after an outage lasting almost three weeks means the ZNPP can once again access external electricity to cool its reactors and spent fuel ponds, as well as for other essential nuclear safety and security functions.
“It is a much-needed development also as the ZNPP was facing a possible station blackout, with diminishing diesel fuel reserves available to operate emergency generators which have been providing backup power since its sole remaining power line – Ferosplavna-1 – was lost due to military activity north of the Dnipro River on 20 August.”
In a statement on the X social media platform, the IAEA said that the seventh localised ceasefire the agency had arranged since the start of the conflict had allowed Ukrainian technicians to complete three days of repairs on Monday.
It added: “Grossi thanks both the Russian Federation and Ukraine for engaging with the agency in agreeing on the ceasefire and enabling off-site power to be restored.”
(Image: IAEA/X)
Ukraine’s nuclear power company Energoatom said that “external power supply was restored thanks to the professional work of Ukrainian power engineers and an agreed local ceasefire, which created the necessary conditions for carrying out repair work on the damaged line”. It added that, as of Monday evening, the station’s consumption was 11 MW.
Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant has been under Russian military control since early March 2022. Its operators said that “following the restoration of power, the plant’s systems have returned to their normal operating mode. The backup diesel generators … have been shut down and switched to standby mode. All Zaporizhzhia NPP safety systems operated normally. There were no violations of safe operating limits and conditions. The radiation situation at the plant and in the surrounding area remains stable and corresponds to natural levels.”
