Ukrainian NPPs cut electricity production due to today’s Russian attack - IAEA
Today, on November 17, 2024, during Russia's massive attack on Ukraine, several substations that provide external power to Ukrainian nuclear power plants were damaged. They had to reduce electricity production.
This was stated by the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Mariano Grossi, Censor.NET reports citing Ukrinform.
"Ukraine's operating nuclear power plants (NPPs) have reduced electricity production this morning as a precautionary measure following widespread military action across the country, which reportedly targeted energy infrastructure, further exacerbating nuclear safety and security risks," Grossi said.
It is also noted that although the Khmelnytsky, Rivne and South Ukrainian NPPs were not directly hit and did not stop operations, "several electrical substations on which they depend suffered further damage during the strikes".
"The main power lines from four substations were cut off. At present, only two of the nine operating reactors in the country are generating electricity at 100 percent capacity," the statement said.
According to Grossi, the IAEA teams visited seven substations located outside the nuclear power plants across the country in September and October to assess the damage after the August attacks, and will assess the need for more visits after today's attacks.
"The IAEA teams working at the NPPs heard the sounds of air defense activities and took cover during the air raids. At Khmelnytsky NPP, the IAEA team heard a loud explosion. At Rivne NPP, two 330-kilovolt power lines were unavailable," the International Atomic Energy Agency said.
It was emphasized that NPPs need a stable connection to the power grid both to transmit the generated electricity and to receive external power to cool the reactors.
Massive attack on Ukraine on 17 November 2024
As reported, on the morning of 17 November, Russian invaders launched a massive attack on the power system.
For example, the Russians struck Zaporizhzhia three times, targeting critical infrastructure. In Volyn and Vinnytsia regions, the enemy attacked energy infrastructure during an air raid.
Censor.NET also reported that the Russian occupiers attacked Mykolaiv with several waves of drones in the morning. The enemy hit the residential sector. In addition, the Russians attacked Kyiv with drones at night, and explosions were heard.
Later, it became known that Russian troops attacked Dnipro and the region, a person was wounded and there was damage. The enemy also hit a critical infrastructure facility in Rivne region.
The Russian invaders attacked Kryvyi Rih during an air raid. Infrastructure was hit, and hospitals switched to generators.
According to DTEK, the attacks severely damaged the equipment at its thermal power plants. This is the eighth large-scale attack on the company's energy facilities this year. Since the start of the full-scale invasion, DTEK's thermal power plants have been shelled more than 190 times.
In the forests of Mukachevo and Rakhiv districts of the Zakarpattia region, fragments of enemy missiles and UAVs fell outside settlements.
The enemy also attacked a critical infrastructure facility in the Ivano-Frankivsk region.
Several railway sections in the south, west and north-east of Ukraine were cut off due to massive hostile shelling. Two railway workers were killed in the Dnipropetrovsk region.
In the Cherkasy region, the Defence Forces shot down seven Shaheds and two cruise missiles, damaged a house and a power line, and set fire to forest litter. In the Odesa region, energy infrastructure was damaged, causing interruptions in the supply of heat, water and electricity, two people were killed and a teenager was injured.
According to the Air Force, 102 of 120 missiles and 42 of 90 drones were destroyed.
