27 safety programs: Kotin names conditions for restart of Zaporizhzhya NPP
7 April 20:05
Restarting the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant would be dangerous, and if Ukraine regains control of the plant, it would take up to two years in peacetime to resume operations. This was stated by Energoatom CEO Petro Kotin in an interview with The Guardian, Komersant ukrainskyi reports.
According to the official, there are serious problems that need to be overcome before the plant can safely resume electricity production. These problems include insufficient water cooling, staff shortages, and problems with electricity supply.
How to launch ZNPP
Kotin noted that Energoatom is ready to restart the plant, but it requires the withdrawal of Russian troops and the demining and demilitarization of the facility.
According to him, such a restart by Ukraine would take from “two months to two years” in an environment “without any threats from the military.”
Kotin emphasized that the six reactors can be put into operation only after completion of 27 safety programs agreed with the Ukrainian nuclear regulator, including testing of nuclear fuel in the reactor cores, as it has exceeded the six-year “design period.”
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Could Russia launch the ZNPP?
Russia has stated its intention to maintain control over the facility and resume its operation, although no specific timeframe has been given. Alexei Likhachev, head of Russia’s nuclear operator Rosatom, said in February that the plant would be restarted “when military and political conditions allow.”
Russia has admitted that it has placed mines between the inner and outer perimeters of the plant “to deter potential Ukrainian saboteurs,” and IAEA inspectors have reported the presence of armed military and military personnel at the site.
However, the head of Energoatom claims that a Russian restart during the hostilities “would be impossible, even for one unit (reactor).” Kotin noted that an attempt to restart the plant by Russia would almost certainly not be accepted or supported by Ukraine. This would require reconnecting three additional 750 kV high-voltage lines to the plant, he said.
The nuclear reactor requires a significant amount of energy for daily operation, and three of the four high-voltage lines came from territories that are now under Russian occupation.
“They destroyed these lines themselves,”
– Kotin said, adding that Russia has found that engineers cannot rebuild them while the war is ongoing.
Only two lines remain to keep the facility in a state of cold shutdown: a 750 kV line coming from Ukraine and an additional 330 kV line. However, on eight separate occasions, shelling has disrupted the power supply, forcing the plant to rely on backup generators.
Experts say that a pumping station needs to be built at the facility, as the available cooling water is insufficient. The destruction of the Kakhovka dam by the Russian military in June 2023 downstream eliminated the easy supply of necessary water from the Dnipro River.
In addition, last month, the US Department of Energy said that Zaporizhzhia NPP has “insufficient and inadequately trained personnel” and the number of employees is less than a third of the pre-war level.
The U.S. briefing notes that Ukrainian reactors, although based on the Soviet VVER design, “have evolved differently” from their Russian counterparts, “especially safety systems.” The Russian specialists replacing Ukrainian personnel are “inexperienced” in operating the Ukrainian versions.
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. Its 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 full blackouts and one partial blackout, with the launch of emergency diesel generators and safety systems. According to Energoatom, their failure threatens to cause an emergency.
The last time the plant faced a blackout was on August 23, 2024.
