While the power supply to the plant has since been restored, the plant’s six reactors remained disconnected from Ukraine’s energy grid on Thursday evening local time, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said, citing Ukraine.
Ukraine’s nuclear operator Energoatom said fires at a nearby thermal power plant caused the nuclear plant’s last remaining power line to disconnect twice. The plant’s three other lines had been “lost earlier during the conflict,” the nuclear watchdog said.
Energoatom blamed Russia for the disconnection. “The actions of the invaders caused a complete disconnection of the ZNPP (Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant) from the power grid — the first in the history of the plant,” it wrote in a statement.
The Russian-installed regional governor blamed Ukrainian military action for the outages, and added “work was underway to restore the power supply to the region and launch the second power unit.”
The nuclear plant, which is Europe’s largest, has been under Russian control since March. Clashes around the complex have sparked widespread concern and fears of a disaster.
Ukraine has accused Russian troops of using the plant as a shield, risking a potential disaster at the plant. The Kremlin has in turn repeatedly accused Ukrainian forces of shelling the plant.
Calls have also grown for inspectors from the IAEA to visit the plant. “Almost every day there is a new incident at or near the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant. We can’t afford to lose any more time. I’m determined to personally lead an IAEA mission to the plant in the next few days to help stabilize the nuclear safety and security situation there,” IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said in the statement.
He earlier indicted to France 24 that they were “very, very close” to an agreement with Russia.
A ‘dangerous situation’
This view was put forward on Monday by Energoatom chief Petro Kotin, who accused Russia of trying to disconnect the plant from the Ukrainian grid “and then try to reconnect it to Russian system,” in an interview with CNN.
He said the only way to do that would require a full shutdown of the plant “and a full cut of all lines which are connected to the Ukrainian system. Because the frequencies right now are different, Russian frequency and Ukrainian frequency — we are synchronized with European system, and they’re synchronized with Russia.”
He however warned that once the fourth line was damaged, “then we will have blackouts more through the whole plant,” he said, describing it as a “dangerous situation” because the plant would be reliant on only diesel-powered generators, which are unreliable “because they need fuel for their work, and also … they have limited capacity to constantly be in work mode.”
Citing Ukraine, IAEA said Thursday that the plant “remained connected to a 330 kV line from the nearby thermal power facility that can provide back-up electricity if needed.”
US State Department principal deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said Thursday “any attempt to disconnect” Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant “from the Ukrainian power grid and redirect to occupied areas is unacceptable.”
“It is clear that Russia’s shelling and seizure of Ukraine’s power plants and infrastructure are part of its strategy to create energy crises in Europe. We strongly condemn any action at ZNPP or elsewhere that impacts the health and welfare of civilians throughout the region,” Patel said during a briefing call with reporters.
Top US State Department official Bonnie Jenkins also warned on Thursday that Russia’s actions at the plant “have created a serious risk of a nuclear incident, a dangerous radiation release that could threaten not only the people and environment of Ukraine, but also affect neighboring countries and the entire international community.”
Jenkins, who is Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, called for Russia to cease its military activities around the plant, stressing the importance of an IAEA visit.
CNN’s Sam Kiley, Bex Wright, Amy Cassidy, and Jennifer Hansler contributed to this report.
