The six-unit plant has been under Russian military control since March 2022. It had 10 external power lines before the war began, but there is currently one line working, and it recently spent a month without external power when that line was lost.
That main external 750 kV power line was fixed last week following an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)-mediated local ceasefire to allow repair works to take place. The backup 330 kV power line was also due to be repaired at the same time, but additional damage was discovered about 1.8 kilometres from the Zaporizhzhia Thermal Power Plant’s switchyard, the IAEA says.
IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said: “We continue to work intensively to support the conditions needed for this additional repair work to begin. Restoring this power line is essential to improving the fragile nuclear safety and security situation at the site.”
The plant’s reactors have been shut down since 2022 but power is still required for safety systems including cooling pumps, the IAEA said. During the loss of external power emergency diesel generators supplied the power but they are not intended to be a long-term solution.
In his latest update on the situation, Grossi also said that there had been the loss of one power line each at South Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant and Khmelnitsky Nuclear Power Plant following military action this week.
Grossi said: “The dangers to nuclear safety continue to be very real and ever-present. I once again call for maximum military restraint in the vicinity of nuclear facilities and full respect of the seven indispensable pillars for nuclear safety and security.”
