Against the backdrop of massive Russian shelling, three Ukrainian nuclear power plants have reduced electricity production. This further compromised nuclear safety during the war.
This was stated by the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi.
For the second time in less than two weeks, the Khmelnytsky, Rivne and South Ukrainian NPPs reduced their capacity. This is a precautionary measure, because at that time the air alarm sounded at three objects.
There are only nine reactors at the three nuclear power plants, all of them have reduced capacity. One reactor of the Rivne NPP was disconnected from the grid. Khmelnytskyi NPP lost connection to two of its power transmission lines.
There is no information about direct damage to the NPP, but Ukraine has informed IAEA that the strikes again affected electrical substations, which the NPP uses to transmit and receive electricity. These substations, designated by IAEA as critical to nuclear safety, have been damaged in previous attacks.
Nuclear power plants need a reliable connection to the grid to distribute the electricity they produce and to obtain external energy to cool the reactor.
- The day before, on November 28, Russia launched almost 200 drones and missiles over Ukraine. The main targets are the facilities of the fuel and energy sector.
- Prior to that, Ukrainian nuclear power plants reduced electricity production on November 17 after the previous massive combined shelling.
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