After a two-week break, the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant is again directly connected to the Ukrainian power grid. As the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced in Vienna on Saturday, a main power line that cools the fuel rods in the facility occupied by Russian forces has been restored. During the interruption, the external power supply ran via emergency lines, which also failed at times due to the fighting.
In order to avoid the risky use of emergency generators in the nuclear power plant or even a nuclear accident, the last of the six reactors still in operation shut down last weekend. However, the nuclear material must continue to be cooled even when it is switched off.
According to IAEA chief Rafael Grossi Despite the improved power supply, the general situation in Zaporizhia remains unstable. Although the nuclear power plant had not been fired upon in the past few days, fighting continued in the area around the plant. In his reports on the power plant, Grossi refers, among other things, to information from two IAEA experts who are stationed there as observers.
