On November 7, a local ceasefire was established near the temporarily occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) to repair the 330-kilovolt backup power line that powered the plant.
This is stated in a message on the website of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
On the morning of November 7, demining and other preparatory work began near the damaged section of the “Ferosplavna-1” line. The restoration of the line itself is scheduled to begin on November 8.
IAEA notes that this will give the station access to two power transmission lines following the repair of the 750-kilovolt “Dniprovska” line last month.
The restoration of the “Ferosplavna-1” backup power line is critically important for stabilizing the nuclear safety situation at the plant.
The IAEA team based at ZNPP will oversee the repairs.
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 favorable 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.
On October 30, Russiaʼs massive combined strike on Ukrainian energy infrastructure damaged substations critical to the countryʼs nuclear safety and security.
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