The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) in Energodar experienced its tenth blackout since the beginning of the Russian occupation of the plant.
This was reported by “Energoatom”.
Today at 4:56 PM, the last power transmission line through which the Zaporizhzhia NPP received power from the Ukrainian power system was disconnected.
Due to the complete blackout, ZNPP switched to powering its own needs from diesel generators. “Energoatom” emphasizes that this is a serious violation of the conditions of normal operation of the plant, which threatens the development of an accident.
The presence of ZNPP under illegitimate leadership poses a threat to the nuclear and radiation safety of Europeʼs largest nuclear facility. Their irresponsible actions could have catastrophic consequences for the entire world.
What is known about the occupation of the Zaporizhzhia NPP?
The Russians occupied the Zaporizhzhia NPP in early March 2022 and have been operating under their control since then. An IAEA mission has been at the station since September 2022. Ukraine insists on the withdrawal of the Russian occupiers from the station. Russia refuses to create a demilitarized zone at the Zaporizhzhia NPP.
In September of this year, Putin stated that the Russian Federation is ready to cooperate with the United States and Ukraine on the issue of the Zaporizhzhia NPP. According to him, “if favourable circumstances arise, we have discussed this with our American colleagues, we can even work together at the Zaporizhzhia NPP”.
Back in March of this year, the Russians stated that the Zaporizhzhia NPP is a Russian nuclear facility and that transferring control over it to Ukraine or any other country is impossible.
In April, Reuters published a US peace plan that proposed that Ukraine regain control of the Zaporizhzhia NPP. The US would operate the plant and supply electricity to Ukraine and Russia. In response, Ukraine and the EU presented their own plan — in which Ukraine would regain control of the plant with the participation of the US, Russia is not mentioned in this issue.
Currently, ZNPP is connected to only one external power supply line.
“Energoatom” explained that if the only working line fails, it will mean that Zaporizhzhia NPP will lose external power supply to the station and will start emergency diesel generators. However, their resources are limited both in terms of operating time and the availability of diesel fuel. Thus, the launch of diesel generators means the beginning of the countdown to the start of nuclear fuel melting.
In addition, according to IAEA, the water level in the cooling pond at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has now dropped to 13.4 m and is approaching the critical level of 12 m — if the water level drops below this level, the cooling systems will stop working. All six reactors are currently in a cold shutdown state, and under current conditions it is impossible to safely start even one of them.
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