KYIV, Ukraine – Ukraine’s largest nuclear power plant was disconnected from the national power grid on Thursday, for the first time in the country’s history, Ukrainian officials said, leading to a massive power outage. in nearly all Russian-occupied cities in southern Ukraine.
According to Ukraine’s energy agency, the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant – which provides a fifth of Ukraine’s electricity but has been occupied by Russian troops for months – can still produce electricity to meet its own needs and keep it for essential systems to operate safely. Energoatom.
The agency blamed the Russians for shelling critical infrastructure around the plant that resulted in the plant being “completely disconnected” from the power grid, “for the first time in the plant’s history.” .”
The director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN’s nuclear watchdog, said on Thursday afternoon that the episode highlights the heightened danger at the plant, where shelling has damaged roads. power lines and other infrastructure.
Director Rafael Marino Grossi said power supply from the off-site grid is essential to ensure nuclear safety. The plant has a diesel generator and a separate coal-fired plant to provide backup power if external power is lost, he noted.
Backup power is required to ensure continuous operation of the cooling system that removes heat from the reactors. If not cooled, nuclear fuel can overheat and melt, potentially releasing radiation.
Grossi said on Thursday that the plant’s two operating reactor units were disconnected from the power grid and their emergency protection systems were activated, but all safety systems remained operational. motion.
“We can’t afford to lose any more time,” he said. “I am determined to personally lead an IAEA delegation to the plant in the next few days to help stabilize the nuclear safety and security situation there.”
President Volodymyr Zelensky used his nightly address to emphasize the dangers of the moment. He said that emergency systems worked during the time the power plant was cut off from the grid, but if they failed, the country and the world would face a nuclear accident.
“Russia has put Ukraine and all Europeans in a position where there is only one step away from a possible radioactive disaster,” Zelensky said.
High-voltage lines that allow the plant to transmit the electricity it generates to more than four million homes, or provide the power it needs elsewhere, have come under constant attack in recent weeks. Ukraine and Russia have blamed who is responsible for the shelling, which continues despite international alarms and calls for a demilitarized zone to be established around the plant. Russia has rejected that proposal.
Grossi said his agency was negotiating the terms of the planned visit to the plant. “We are very, very close to that,” Mr. Grossi told the news network France 24although he stressed that the terms of the visit, and security arrangements to allow inspectors to pass through the active fighting area, have not been finalized.
In recent days, shelling has hit infrastructure outside the plant, damaging three of the four high-voltage lines connecting the nuclear facility to the national power grid.
On Thursday, Energoatom said the fourth line was down twice. Every time engineers race to fix the lines. The line was cut for about seven minutes shortly after noon and then again briefly at 2:14pm
The precarious working conditions at the factory and recent shelling at the facility has raised global alarm. Britain’s military intelligence agency on Thursday released new satellite photos showing Russian military equipment parked near working reactors.
But the most immediate impact of the fighting around the plant is being felt by hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians living in Russian-occupied towns and cities across southern Ukraine.
The exiled mayor of Enerhodar, Dmytro Orlov, said the city was “once again on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe.”
“Today, as a result of enemy shelling, the city is completely without electricity and water,” he said.
Hours later, he said that workers at the nuclear power plant had managed to restore power to the city. But power outages in other southern cities continued, including the Russian-controlled port city of Berdyansk, more than 130 miles south.
Residents in the city said cell phone service on the Russian-installed mobile network was not working and there were long lines for fuel and drinking water. Similar situations were reported in other towns and cities throughout the occupied south.
