IAEA director-general renews calls for protection zone
The last remaining backup 330 kilovolt (kV) power line at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station in Ukraine, damaged since 1 March, remains disconnected and under repair, again highlighting the fragility of nuclear safety and security at Europe’s largest nuclear power station International Atomic Energy Agency director-general Rafael Mariano Grossi said.
For three weeks, the six-unit Zaporizhzhia has received offsite electricity from only one remaining 750 kV main external power line. Though all six reactors at the ZNPP are in shutdown, with two in hot shutdown, the facility needs offsite power to perform essential nuclear safety and security functions. Without the backup line, any damage to the 750 kV line will result in total loss of all offsite power to the plant.
On 9 March, the station lost all offsite power for 11 hours when the 750 kV line was disconnected, forcing Zaporizhzhia to rely on its emergency diesels generators for reactor cooling and other essential nuclear safety and security functions.
Grossi said that the situation at the station remains perilous. An IAEA team at the station was told that restoration of the line had been planned for 5, 10 and then 13 March, but had not been possible. The latest reconnection date was scheduled for 23 March, but the IAEA has not yet confirmed whether reconnection took place.
In an additional warning of the deteriorating situation, the IAEA team at Zaporizhzhia was told that the connection to the 750 kV line may be disconnected for an unknown period of time to perform maintenance/repairs on the line.
Grossi once again called for a commitment from all sides to secure nuclear safety and security protection at the station. In January Grossi said establishing a protection zone around the station was taking far more time than expected. He has repeatedly called for a protection zone and has held talks with Russia and Ukraine. Grossi said the situation regarding Zaporizhzhia, which is under Russia’s control and where repeated shelling has been reported, is “challenging”.
