The Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, currently occupied by the Russians, has been reconnected to the main power line, a day after the connection was cut and the threat of a possible blackout, the Ukrainian government announced this Friday.
The reason for the interruption, which took place on Wednesday evening, was a cable break following an “enemy” attack by Russian troops several kilometers from the Ukrainian nuclear power plant.said the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine in a message published on the Telegram platform.
In the same message, the ministry announced that the main high-voltage line, with a capacity of 750 kV, is operational again.
On Thursday, Energoatom, the state-owned company that manages Ukraine’s nuclear power plants, announced that the plant was forced to use its 330-kilowatt (kw) reserve line due to a lack of power from the main line. the second line fails.
On the same occasion, the company reiterated that occupation of the plant by personnel not even adequately trained in nuclear safety is a constant threat that could lead to catastrophe.
“Urgent action is needed by the international community. The nuclear terrorism of the Russian Federation must stop immediately and the invaders must leave the territory of the power plant and the satellite city of Energodar.”the company statement said.
Also on Thursday, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna said one of the reactors at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant had been placed in “cold shutdown” following the detection of a water leak in one of its generators.
“Ukrainian Zaporizhia NPP will put unit ‘4’ on cold shutdown to determine the exact cause of the detected water leak and perform maintenance to repair the affected steam generator,” the IAEA said in a statement, adding that despite the incident , no emission of radioactivity was detected.
Also on Thursday, the IAEA, which has a team of inspectors at the nuclear power plant, announced that reactor ‘6’ will go into “hot shutdown” in the coming days to produce steam, which is used for various safety operations. such as processing liquid nuclear waste.
The UN agency also defended that the safest way for the nuclear plant would be to install external steam generating equipment.
Inspections conducted last week at the plant’s facilities failed to detect the presence of mines or explosives in new locations, but confirmed the existence of these artifacts in locations already discovered on July 23. added the UN agency.
In early July, Ukraine accused Moscow of preparing a provocation, in which the Kiev army arranged for “objects resembling explosives” to be placed on the roofs of reactors ‘3’ and ‘4’ at Zaporizhia, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant.
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the IAEA has demanded that a security zone be created around the plant.
After the plant fell to the Russian army on March 4, 2022, it was the target of a fire and several power cuts, a precarious situation that has raised fears of a nuclear accident.
Since early June, the Ukrainian army has been conducting offensive operations in the east and south to try to recapture areas occupied by Russian-speaking separatist militias and Russian troops, including in the Zaporizhia region.
Source: DN
