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ZNPP again connected to Ukrainian power grid via main external power line – IAEA
KYIV. Sept 16 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukraine’s Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) receiving electricity directly from the national grid after engineers repaired one of the four main external power lines that have all been damaged during the war, the IAEA said on Saturday.
According to the agency’s press release, the restored 750 kilovolt (kV) line is now providing Europe’s largest nuclear power plant – whose last operating reactor was shut down on 11 September – with the electricity it needs for reactor cooling and other essential safety functions.
After the ZNPP lost the connection to the same 750 kV line two weeks ago, it first relied on electricity produced by the plant itself and then on back-up power lines linking it to the grid through the electrical switchyard of a nearby thermal power plant, the IAEA recalled.
With the main line’s re-connection on Friday afternoon (September 16), the three back-up power lines are again being held in reserve. The three other main external 750 kV power lines that were lost earlier during the conflict remain down. All the ZNPP’s six reactors are in a cold shutdown state, but they still require power to maintain necessary safety functions. Since 5 September, the plant has not been providing any electricity to households, factories and others relying on it for their needs.
The agency said that The 750 kV line was restored on the same day as the national Ukrainian operator Energoatom said it had delivered spare parts for the repair of the ZNPP’s power lines as well as additional fuel supplies for the plant’s emergency diesel generators that can be used as a back-up power source. These spare part and fuel deliveries were confirmed by IAEA experts at the site.
The agency and its CEO Rafael Grossi said that while the ZNPP’s power status has improved over the past week the general situation for the plant located in the middle of a war zone remains precarious. To help stabilise the situation, the Director General has initiated consultations with the relevant parties aimed at the urgent establishment of a nuclear safety and security protection zone at the ZNPP.
