The work of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been completely stopped.
This was reported by the state company "Energoatom".
"Today, September 11, 2022, at night, at 03:41, power unit No. 6 of the ZNPP was disconnected from the power grid. Preparations are underway for its cooling and transfer to a cold state," the company said.
For the past three days, this power unit has been operating in an island mode, feeding only its own needs of the ZNPP at a critically low power level (from 114 to 140 MW) since all communication lines of the Zaporizhzhia NPP with the energy system of Ukraine were damaged due to Russian shelling.
"Yesterday evening, after the restoration of one of these communication lines, it became possible to power the ZNPPʼs own needs from the energy system of Ukraine. Therefore, a decision was made to shut down power unit No. 6 and transfer it to the safest state — cold shutdown," the message reads.
The company explains that in the event of repeated damage to the lines of communication with the power system, the ZNPPʼs own needs will be powered by diesel generators, the duration of which is limited by the technical resource and the amount of available diesel fuel.
- On September 1, the IAEA mission arrived at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. The head of the agency, Raphael Grossi, said that six IAEA employees remain at the station. The agencyʼs delegation "saw everything it wanted to see in the first place." Grossi stated that he saw "remains of shells on the buildings — this means that the physical integrity of the objects was violated." However, the vast majority of the protection and safety systems at the station are in "relatively good condition".
- On September 5, four of the six representatives of the IAEA inspection team completed their work at the Zaporizhzhia NPP and left the site of the plant, two experts will continue their work at the ZNPP on a permanent basis. On the same day, the last line connecting the plant to the energy system of Ukraine was turned off at the Zaporizhzhya NPP.
- On September 6, the International Atomic Energy Agency published a report on the results of its visit to the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant: the organization confirmed that Russian military equipment was indeed located there, and called for an immediate cessation of shelling to avoid a disaster.