Ukrainian Zaporizhia Nuclear Power PlantEurope’s largest nuclear power plant has lost its last remaining external power source as a result of renewed shelling and is now dependent on emergency diesel generators, the United Nations nuclear watchdog said Saturday.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said the plant’s connection to the 750-kilovolt transmission line was cut around 1 a.m. on Saturday. Citing official information from Ukraine and reports from his IAEA experts on the ground held by the Russian military.
All six of the plant’s reactors are shut down, but they still need power for cooling and other safety functions. According to the IAEA, power plant engineers have begun repair work on the damaged transmission lines and the power plant’s generators (not all of which are currently in use) and will provide enough fuel for at least 10 days. is supplied.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said in a statement: “It is grossly irresponsible to resume shelling against the factory’s only external power source.”
Grossi visited Kyiv on Thursday. He immediately traveled to Russia, then another to Ukraine, to further his efforts to set up a “nuclear safety and security protection zone” around the nuclear power plant, which he had advocated for weeks. He said he would make a trip to
“This is an absolute and urgent imperative,” he said. The IAEA denied responsibility for the shelling.
Zaporizhia is one of four territories annexed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in violation of international law. The nuclear power plant has been under Russian control for months, but the city of the same name is still under Ukrainian control.
Putin on Wednesday signed a presidential decree declaring Russia to take over the factory. Ukraine’s foreign ministry called it a criminal act and said it considered Putin’s order “ineffective”. Energoatom, Ukraine’s state-owned nuclear operator, said it would continue to operate the power plant.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nuclear-power-plant-ukraine-zaporizhzhia-loses-external-power-link-watchdog/ Ukraine’s Zaporizhia nuclear power plant has lost its last remaining external power source, Watchdog says