Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant relying on generators again after losing external power supply

• Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant lost external power again and is using backup diesel generators to cool reactor fuel, the plant and IAEA said.
• The Ferosplavna line disconnected, and the IAEA said the cause is still unknown; fuel stocks should keep emergency generators running for about two weeks.
• The Russian-run plant said radiation levels are normal and staff are monitoring safety, but the outage renews fears over nuclear safety in the war zone.

MOSCOW – The Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in south-eastern Ukraine has lost its external electricity supply and is again using back-up generators for reactor cooling, the plant’s management and the UN’s nuclear watchdog said on Nov 8.

Zaporizhzhia, which produces no electricity but needs power supplied by two external links to keep nuclear fuel cool, lost its off-site electricity supply after the Ferosplavna power line disconnected, the International Atomic Energy Agency said.

“The cause and location of the latest disconnection are not yet known,” the IAEA said in an X post, adding that the plant currently has sufficient fuel reserves to operate a limited number of emergency diesel generators for about two weeks.

The IAEA said on Oct 23 that the main Dniprovska power line remained unavailable.

In early September, a local ceasefire brokered by the IAEA took effect to allow repairs to restore external power to Zaporizhzhia, which had been without it since Aug 20.

Russia seized the nuclear plant, Europe’s largest with six reactors, in the first weeks of the war that began with Moscow’s February 2022 invasion of its smaller neighbour.

Moscow and Kyiv have since regularly accused each other of military action that compromises nuclear safety.

The plant’s Russian-installed management said the Ferosplavna line had been shut down by “automatic protection”, adding that radiation levels on the site and in the surveillance zone were normal.

“Staff at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant are monitoring all operational parameters of the equipment. All necessary measures to maintain the safe condition of the power units are being taken in full,” the plant’s management said in a statement posted on the MAX messenger app. REUTERS