The Zaporizhia NPP (ZNPP) lost connection to its only remaining off-site back-up power line, leaving it once again precariously reliant on a single power source, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said.
The IAEA Support and Assistance Mission to Zaporizhzhya (ISAMZ) was informed by the ZNPP that the plant’s 330 kilovolt (kV) Ferosplavna 1 back-up power line was disconnected due to a short-circuit and confirmed that it had been re-connected the next day after the Ukraine dispatcher had put the line under maintenance.
The ISAMZ team was informed by the ZNPP that the cause of the short-circuit or the possible damage to the line is unknown. The team has confirmed that the line has been restored. The outage followed reports of military activity in the region and beyond. The IAEA team had reported hearing explosions near the ZNPP over the previous 24 hours.
“This all too often occurrence whereby Europe’s largest nuclear power plant is once again forced to rely on only one external source of electricity to maintain its essential nuclear safety and security functions underlines the vulnerability of this major facility,” Grossi said. “This is not sustainable and it is essential that strengthened efforts be taken now to uphold the five concrete principles for protecting the facility.”
During the outage, ZNPP was connected to its only remaining 750 kV Dniprovska line. Before the conflict, the ZNPP had four 750 kV and six 330 kV power lines available. Grossi pointed out the instability of the situation at the NPP and called for protecting the plant.
ZNPP Communications Director Yevgenia Yashina explained that the back-up high-voltage line of the plant was turned off for an unknown reason. She said the radiation background at the ZNPP is within the natural background values, and no violations of safety conditions were detected. “The high-voltage power supply line Ferroalloy-1 was turned off by the Ukrainian side. The damage is on the other side. The exact reasons are unknown,” Yashina told RIA Novosti.
“We confirm that at the moment all units of the Zaporizhia NPP have been stopped and are in a state of cold shutdown. The equipment is serviced in accordance with all the necessary regulations, with strict control of radiation safety standards,” the ZNPP press service said in its Telegram channel.
Part of the operators’ city of Energodar was left without power due to damage to the power line, according to the head of the region, Evgeny Balitsky. “The power line outside the city was damaged. Energodar is partially de-energized. Work is underway,” his Telegram channel said.
