The city where most staff of Ukraine’s Zaporizhia NPP (ZNPP) live was left without electricity for 16 hours after a second sub-station sustained damage and was taken out of operation, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said in his latest update.
The IAEA team of experts stationed at the ZNPP visited the site of the affected sub-station, Raduga, to observe damage to one of its two transformers that ZNPP said was caused by a drone attack.
This came a few days after another sub-stations, Luch, was destroyed. Grossi said it further deepened his serious concerns about the fragility and vulnerability of Ukraine’s electricity infrastructure, which is crucial also for nuclear safety and security, even though the power supplies to the ZNPP’s six reactors were not affected.
“Whoever is behind this, it must stop. Drone usage against the plant and its vicinity is becoming increasingly more frequent. This is completely unacceptable, and it runs counter to the safety pillars and concrete principles which have been accepted unanimously,” Grossi said.
After destruction of the Luch sub-station – which had provided electricity to parts of Energodar and other areas – the Raduga sub-station was used to supply some of the lost power to five districts of toe town, before it also was damaged.
Two days after visiting Energodar to assess the extent of damage to the Luch sub-station, the IAEA experts saw electric components and other drone debris at the Raduga sub-station, as well as an unexploded device on the ground near the damaged transformer.
Officials at the scene said a hole in the transformer had caused a cooling oil leak that prompted the sub-station to shut down. They added that the oil spill had been covered by sand and that repairs were under way, which were completed later in the afternoon. The IAEA experts did not see any oil traces on the transformer itself. The sub-station appeared to have suffered less damage than the transformer at the Luch sub-station and there was no fire or firefighters in the area.
The loss of electricity from Raduga and Luch did not directly impact the two power lines that are still available for the ZNPP. The plant continues to receive the off-site electricity it needs for cooling its shutdown reactors from its last remaining 750 kilovolt (kV) main power line and the last 330 kV backup power line.
However, the failure of the Raduga sub-station affected the electrical supply to the industrial zone next to the ZNPP as well as the plant’s transport unit, a pump for its tap water and some of the area’s external environmental radiological monitoring stations. These stopped working briefly after running out of battery, but resumed operating as expected when power was restored.
The IAEA team stationed continued to hear indications of military activity, including an explosion close to the site as well as others further away. The experts have continued to conduct walkdowns as part of their regular activities to monitor nuclear safety and security and related developments at ZNPP.
They are also continuing to closely monitor maintenance activities at the site, which are vital for maintaining nuclear safety and security, but which have faced challenges during the conflict. The IAEA experts discussed ZNPP’s maintenance plan for units 1&2, especially for the second half of 2024.
Over the past week, the ZNPP operated the four diesel steam generators (DSG) commissioned in early 2024 to treat 500 cubic metres of liquid radioactive waste. The resulting treated water is intended to be re-used for plant operation. The generators were put back to standby mode after the completion of this task.
The same day, the main electrical transformer of unit 2 was returned to operation after a month of maintenance, including tests on valves, sensors, electrical components, and oil. The IAEA experts were also informed that the ZNPP plans to purchase a spare transformer in the future.
The IAEA team also observed the testing of parts of the safety system of unit 5, including its emergency diesel generator (EDG). ZNPP staff simulated a loss of power, which initiated the start of the EDG and left it in operation for 25 minutes before switching it back to standby mode. IAEA experts also visited the ZNPP training centre where they observed the installed mock-ups of different components of the plant and two of the three full-scope simulators, including Main Control Room operation shift staff undergoing training on one of them.
Strikes on Energodar are carried out by Ukrainian troops from the right bank of the Dnieper River – from the cities of Nikopol and Marganets, as well as the villages of Maryevka, Ilyinka and Dobraya Nadezhda, according to Vladimir Rogov, Chairman of the Commission of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation on Sovereignty, and Co-chairman of the Coordination Council for the Integration of New Regions.
He told RIA Novosti: “The drones are flying from Nikopol on the right bank of the Dnieper. Artillery strikes from Nikopol, Marganets, the villages of Maryevka, Ilyinka, and Dobraya Nadezhda. The Armed Forces of Ukraine are targeting substations and distribution centres, knowing full well that they provide electricity exclusively to civilians, and not military facilities,” Rogov said.
