ZNPP lost external power for second time in five days – IAEA chief

Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, has said that the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) lost all of its external power for the second time in five days.

He said this on Twitter, Ukrinform reports.

"Our team at Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant informed me this morning that the plant has lost all of its external power for the 2nd time in five days. Its back-up diesel generators are now providing electricity for its nuclear safety and security functions," Grossi wrote.

According to him, this repeated loss of ZNPP's off-site power "is a deeply worrying development and it underlines the urgent need for a nuclear safety & security protection zone around the site."

Ukraine's nuclear energy generating company, Energoatom, reported that this morning, October 12, at 08:59, the Dniprovska substation in the Dnipropetrovsk region was damaged by Russian missile fire. As a result, ZNPP's Dniprovska 750kV communication line was disconnected.

Energoatom prepared and sent another batch of diesel fuel to ZNPP. However, as of 10:00 on October 12, the Russian side did not allow the company's convoy of vehicles to pass.

"Russian shelling and damage to the energy infrastructure related to the operation of nuclear plants is the same manifestation of nuclear terrorism as the direct shelling of ZNPP, and it leads to the same consequences and threats of a radiation accident," Energoatom said.