Grossi announced a serious situation due to the shutdown of the Zaporizhia NPP from external sources
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi called the 10-day shutdown of the external power supply at the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) “a serious situation for nuclear safety.”
The statement notes that the NPP has been operating on an emergency backup power source for the last ten days. According to the IAEA, this shutdown of the external power supply is the longest of ten such incidents that have occurred at the nuclear power plant since the beginning of the military conflict in Ukraine.
“The situation is still very serious for nuclear safety. I urge both sides to do everything necessary to prevent further deterioration. This is a matter of political will, not the technical capability that is available,” Grossi said, as quoted in a press release on the IAEA website.
On September 23, the external power supply was cut off at the NPP due to the fire action of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as a result of which the 750 kW Dneprovskaya high-voltage power line was disconnected. The station’s own safety needs are powered by backup diesel generators. The backup line of the Ferroalloy -1 NPP was shut down on May 7.
The nuclear power plant is located on the left bank of the Dnieper River near the town of Energodar. This is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe in terms of the number of units and installed capacity – the plant has six power units with a capacity of one gigawatt each. In October 2022, the nuclear power plant became the property of the Russian Federation. Generation at the power units was stopped in September 2022. Since April 2024, all units of the station have been in the “cold shutdown” mode.
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