Zaporizhzhia NPP loses key power line, left on backup power, IAEA says
The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, occupied by Russian troops, has again found itself in a critical situation after losing connection to one of its two power transmission lines and being left dependent solely on backup power.
The IAEA reported this, Censor.NET informs.
The issue concerns the outage of the 750 kV Dniprovska line, as a result of which the plant is currently receiving electricity only through the backup 330 kV Ferrosplavna-1 line, which was restored less than three weeks ago.
The situation is escalating again
The IAEA stressed that this situation is extremely dangerous, as the Zaporizhzhia NPP is effectively left with a single source of external power supply.
Agency Director General Rafael Grossi has already begun talks with both sides on establishing a local ceasefire regime to carry out repair work and restore the damaged infrastructure.
Lines are damaged by hostilities
Earlier, the backup Ferrosplavna-1 line was returned to service after 23 days of downtime. According to the IAEA, the damage to it may have been linked to hostilities near the Zaporizhzhia thermal power plant.
A temporary ceasefire also had to be agreed at that time to carry out the repairs.
Ukraine still supplies electricity to the plant
Despite the occupation, Ukraine continues to supply electricity to cover the Zaporizhzhia NPP’s own needs. According to Energoatom representatives, the plant consumes about 40-50 MW every hour.
At the same time, losses from the plant’s shutdown are already colossal: underproduction of electricity has exceeded 155 million MWh, while lost profit has reached nearly UAH 599 billion.
The current situation once again shows that the Zaporizhzhia NPP remains vulnerable because of hostilities and the instability of energy infrastructure.
Any further damage may lead to a complete loss of external power supply, one of the key factors of nuclear safety.
