Zaporizhzhia NPP starts reconnection to external power – IAEA

The process of restoring external power supply to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) has begun following weeks of negotiations between the IAEA, Ukraine, and the occupying Russian authorities.

The agency’s Director General Rafael Grossi said this in a statement, Ukrinform reports.

Grossi held talks with both sides on concrete proposals aimed at enabling the plant to receive the off-site power it needs to cool its six shutdown reactors and its spent fuel. The focus was on creating safe conditions for repair work on the damaged sections of Dniprovska and Ferosplavna-1 power lines, located on opposite sides of the frontline near the plant.

“Following intensive consultations, the process leading to the re-establishment of off-site power – through the Dniprovska and Ferosplavna-1 lines – has started. While it will still take some time before the grid connection of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant has been restored, the two sides have engaged with us in a constructive way to achieve this important objective for the sake of nuclear safety and security. No one stands to gain from a further deterioration in this regard,” Grossi said.

According to the IAEA, the blackout at ZNPP began on September 23, forcing Europe’s largest nuclear plant to rely for more than two weeks on emergency diesel generators (EDGs) to power its cooling pumps, further challenging an already precarious nuclear safety and security situation at the site.

The plant is currently operating seven diesel generators, with 13 more on standby, rotating their use to maintain essential power, including for reactor safety systems.

As Ukrinform earlier reported, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Russia deliberately cut ZNPP off from Ukraine’s national grid and is preparing to reconnect it to its own power system.