Zaporizhia: international concern after the nuclear power plant was temporarily disconnected from the Ukrainian power grid

Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky said Europe faced the prospect of disaster on Thursday after his country’s largest nuclear plant, which is occupied by Russian troops, was temporarily cut off from Ukraine’s power grid.

Only because the emergency supply was activated was the Zaporizhia plant able to operate safely, he added.

The power outage occurred after fires had damaged overhead power lines.

There is growing concern about the fighting near the compound, which is Europe’s largest nuclear power plant.

“If the diesel generators had not been turned on, if the automation and our plant personnel had not reacted after the blackout, then we would already be forced to face the consequences of a radiation accident,” President Zelensky warned Thursday night. .

The damage was caused by fires that Ukraine’s state nuclear agency said had interfered with power lines connecting the plant on Thursday, temporarily cutting Zaporizhia from the national grid. for the first time in its history.

“As a result, the station’s two working power units were disconnected from the grid,” Kyiv officials said.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has warned that having “an off-site power supply safe from the grid is essential to ensure nuclear safety.

Satellite images taken on Wednesday showed a widespread fire in the immediate vicinity of the nuclear complex.

Volodymyr Zelensky blamed the damage on Russian bombing, and in his late-night speech accused Moscow of putting Ukraine and Europe “one step away” from disaster.

But the Russian-appointed local governor, Yevgeny Balitsky, blamed the Ukrainian military for the attacks, accusing them of causing power outages in the region.

The BBC was unable to independently verify who was responsible.

Radiation levels in the vicinity remained normal even though the nuclear complex lost its main power supply on Thursday, local officials said.

The plant “remained connected to a 330 kV line from the nearby thermal power facility that can provide backup electricity if needed,” the IAEA said in a statement, citing Ukraine’s state nuclear agency.

Normally, the nuclear plant supplies a fifth of Ukraine’s total electricity, so its continued disconnection from the national grid would pose serious challenges for Ukraine.

The nuclear site has been occupied by Russian military forces since early March, but continues to be operated by Ukrainian nuclear technicians.

The Kremlin has signaled that it will allow international inspectors to visit the complex, but until that happens it is difficult to verify what is happening on the ground.

“Almost every day there is a new incident at or near the nuclear power plant. We cannot afford to waste any more time,” IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said in a statement, repeating his call to lead an international mission to the plant in the coming days.

Energy experts are concerned that some of the plant’s safety mechanisms could fail if the complex loses all power.

It comes amid claims from Kyiv that Moscow may be trying to intentionally divert power from the occupied nuclear plant to reconnect it to Russia’s power grid.

On Thursday there were media reports of power outages in towns and villages in neighboring parts of Russian-occupied Ukraine.

The Washington government has condemned any attempt by Moscow to redirect power generated by the plant away from Kyiv’s national grid.

“The electricity it produces rightfully belongs to Ukraine,” State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said Thursday night, adding that “no country should turn a nuclear power plant into an active war zone.”

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