IAEA declares serious threats to nuclear safety of ZNPP
21 February 2025 10:49
Since February 11, the temporarily occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been on a single external power line after the backup line was damaged by Russians. This was reported by "Komersant Ukrainian" with reference to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
They emphasize that the nuclear safety situation remains “extremely fragile.”
“The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant still needs a reliable external power supply for cooling purposes, even though its six reactors have been shut down for more than two years. The vulnerability of the external energy situation remains a serious source of concern for nuclear safety,” IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi emphasized.
It is noted that the IAEA team at ZNPP continues to collect additional information on the state of its backup power supply.
In addition, the IAEA mission at ZNPP heard an explosion near the plant on February 12, which coincided with unconfirmed reports of a drone attack about 300 meters from the site, and over the past week continued to hear other daily explosions at different distances from the plant.
“There have been no reports of damage at the site,” the statement said.
The IAEA also notes that it continues to negotiate with the Ukrainian and Russian sides on the rotation of the mission.
It should be noted that this situation at ZNPP is not the first. The agency reminded that in November alone, Zaporizhzhia NPP was left on the same power line three times due to Russian shelling. Zaporizhzhia NPP has already experienced eight complete and one partial blackout, and the accident was avoided only because diesel generators were in good working order and were put into operation.
It should be noted that on December 10, a Russian drone hit an IAEA official vehicle that was heading to the occupied Zaporizhzhia NPP.
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ZNPP
Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe and the third largest in the world by total capacity. Located in the Zaporizhzhia region near the city of Enerhodar, it consists of six nuclear power units of 1 GW each. Construction began in 1981, and the first unit was commissioned in 1984. The last unit, the sixth, was commissioned in 1995.
ZNPP annually produced about 40 billion kWh of electricity, which was about 20% of Ukraine’s total power generation. It is also the first nuclear power plant in the country to have a dry spent fuel storage facility.
The Russian army seized ZNPP on the night of March 4, 2022, after shelling the nuclear facility. Russia has also occupied the city of Enerhodar, near which the nuclear power plant is located.
Since the beginning of the Russian occupation, Zaporizhzhia NPP has experienced eight complete blackouts with the launch of emergency diesel generators and safety systems. Their failure threatens to cause an emergency, according to Energoatom.
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