Occupied ZNPP depends on one power transmission line for seven weeks
The 330 kV power line was disconnected on May 7 due to military actions by the Russian Federation
The Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been dependent on a single power transmission line for seven weeks, the International Atomic Energy Agency reported.
"Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) is dependent on a single external power supply line to provide electricity to its six reactors and spent nuclear fuel. This has been the case for seven weeks after losing contact with the last backup power transmission line," the IAEA said in a statement.
Recall that a 330 kilovolt (kV) power line was disconnected on May 7 due to military operations some distance from the ZNPP, leaving Europe's largest nuclear power plant dependent on a single 750 kV line. Before the full-scale invasion, the ZNPP had access to ten external power lines. All six reactors at the nuclear power plant have been in a "cold shutdown" state since 2024, but still require cooling water for the reactor cores.
"The extremely fragile situation with external power supply, as well as the problems associated with the availability of cooling water after the collapse of the Kakhovka dam two years ago, underline that nuclear safety at the Zaporizhzhia NPP remains extremely fragile. There are many important issues that need to be resolved before the plant can be restarted," said IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi.
Agency experts present at the station "heard explosions at various distances from the facility almost every day for the past week."
IAEA teams at the other three Ukrainian nuclear power plants – Khmelnytskyi, Rivne and Pivdennyukrainska – as well as at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, have also reported air alert signals over the past week.
As reported by "Ukrainian Energy", at a meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors, 49 member states adopted a joint statement stating that the restart of the ZNPP is possible only under the control of Ukraine.
According to a report by Greenpeace Ukraine, Russian attempts to lay a new power line for the illegal restart of the Zheleznodorozhny NPP have become apparent. Relevant work is ongoing in the occupied Ukrainian territories.
