All the external power lines supplying electricity to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) in Ukraine are down, the U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Friday.
‘Ukraine’s ZNPP lost all off-site power at 17:36 today, 9th time during military conflict and first since late 2023,’ the International Atomic Energy Agency said on X, adding that the plant was relying on its emergency diesel generators for power.
The site’s six reactors have all been shut down but it needs electricity to cool the fuel inside them and keep radiation at a safe level.
Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the ZNPP has already experienced a complete blackout 8 times and has repeatedly been on the verge of a power cut.
Fears of a nuclear disaster have been sparked on several occasions when the plant has been shelled and temporarily disconnected from Ukraine’s power grid.
Ukraine’s Energy Minister German Galushchenko today accused Russia of destroying the power line that connects the plant to the power grid.
ZNPP has been held by Russia since the early days of the war following Moscow’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, although it isn’t currently producing nuclear power.
Inspectors from the UN nuclear watchdog said in May that they haven’t seen any signs of Russia moving to immediately restart the plant.
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, Europe’s largest, remains close to the front lines, and both Ukraine and Russia have regularly accused the other of shelling the plant, and risking a possible nuclear disaster.
The plant sits roughly 80 miles up the Dnieper river from the Kakhovka dam, which was heavily damaged in explosions on June 6, 2023.
The city of Zaporizhzhia itself is less than 35 miles away and housed 750,000 people before the war.
The plant was also targeted last year. This attack included a strike on the dome of the plant’s sixth power unit that caused no damage.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said at the time that the possibility of a drone strike at the Zaporizhzhia power plant is ‘consistent’ with what it’s seen.
Posting on X, formerly Twitter, the agency said: ‘One casualty reported. Damage at unit 6 has not compromised nuclear safety, but this is a serious incident w/ potential to undermine integrity of the reactor’s containment system.’
Its chief Rafael Grossi added there had been three ‘direct hits’ to such structures.’
This is a breaking news story, more to follow.