The situation at Zaporizhzhya NPP has deteriorated critically as a result of another Russian shelling. Europe’s largest nuclear power plant is now under the threat of blackout, reports Komersant ukrainskyi
citing the press service of Energoatom.
on 22 August, Russian shelling damaged the external overhead line of the Zaporizhzhya TPP-Ferrosplavna OHL-330kV, through which ZNPP received power from the Ukrainian power grid to meet its own needs.
Currently, the plant is connected to the Ukrainian power grid by only one power line – OHL 750kV Dniprovska.
“In case of its damage, an emergency will arise due to the loss of external power supply to the pumps that cool the reactor cores and fuel pools of ZNPP,”
– energoatom said.
The company emphasises that under the control of the occupiers, degradation in all areas of operation at ZNPP is constantly deepening.
“The recent fire, when one of the two existing cooling towers of the NPP completely burned down due to negligence or deliberate arson, has now been compounded by the threat of losing external power to the plant. After all, the lack of competent, qualified and licensed personnel and the transformation of ZNPP into a military base makes it impossible to operate the plant without fail”,
– energoatom reports.
Since the beginning of the Russian occupation, Zaporizhzhia NPP has already experienced eight full blackouts and one partial blackout, which were accompanied by the launch of emergency diesel generators and safety systems. Energoatom warns that the failure of these systems could lead to an emergency.
Due to the critical situation, Energoatom calls for immediate action:
“The Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant must immediately come under the full control of Ukraine, its legitimate operator, Energoatom, and Russia must withdraw its military and military equipment from the plant.”
This, in the company’s view, is the only way to restore nuclear and radiation safety across the continent.
ZNPP
Zaporizhzhya 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 4 March 2022, having previously shelled the nuclear facility. Russia also occupied the city of Enerhodar, near which the nuclear power plant is located.
The last time the plant faced the threat of blackout was on 23 May this year.