Zaporizhzhia power supply restored, situation 'remains fragile'

IAEA director general Rafael Mariano Grossi called it "a temporary relief in a still untenable situation" and said a safety and security protection zone was urgently needed at, and around, the plant.

Shelling caused the loss of connection with the last remaining 750 kilovolt power line early on Saturday morning, with all 16 of the available diesel generators starting automatically to provide its six reactors with power, before 10 were switched off leaving six to provide the necessary power to the reactors. Although all the reactors are currently shut down, power is still required for reactor cooling and other essential safety and security functions.

Before the conflict the nuclear power plant had four high-voltage power lines and back-up power lines connecting it to a thermal power station, which have all been damaged during the war. It had also been able, earlier in the conflict, to receive power from one of its reactors when they were still operating.

Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is near the frontline of the war in Ukraine and has been under the control of Russian forces since early March, although it has continued to be operated by its Ukrainian staff. Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a decree last week saying the plant was now Russian and run by a new Russian operating company. Ukraine has rejected the decree as illegal and "null and void".

The emergency diesel generators have enough fuel to run for about 10 days. On Saturday the IAEA said that a convoy of five trucks with additional diesel fuel supplies was in the Ukrainian-controlled city of Zaporizhzhia - a city about 55 km (34 miles) northwest of the plant, which has been shelled by Russia over the past few days. The plan was for the convoy to try to cross the frontline on Monday to reach the plant, the IAEA said. Separately, the IAEA said a supply of diesel fuel provided by Russia's Rosatom had arrived in Energodar, the city close by the nuclear power plant where many of its employees live.

The IAEA's Grossi said that the agency's experts stationed at the plant had told him Ukrainian engineers had restored the connection to the 750 kV line on Sunday evening, allowing the emergency diesel generators to be switched off. He said it was a much-needed development but that the power situation at the ZNPP "remained fragile".

Grossi said: "Almost every day now, there is shelling in the region where the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is located and where the plant workers and their families live. The shelling must stop, immediately. It is already having an impact on the nuclear safety and security situation at the plant.

"These military attacks in Zaporizhzhia and its vicinity increase the risk of a nuclear accident, if they hit the plant's external power lines or make it more difficult to deliver vital supplies of fuel and equipment."

The IAEA's director general is continuing his efforts to create a safety and security zone at, and around, the nuclear power plant and has been "engaging in high-level talks with Ukraine and Russian Federation aimed at agreeing and implementing such a zone as soon as possible". He travelled to Ukraine for talks last week, and plans to travel to Russia.