Zaporizhzhia NPP was on the verge of blackout for the second time in a week on November 21. This happened due to shelling by the Russian army.
Points of attention
- The Zaporizhzhia NPP was twice on the verge of blackout due to shelling by the Russian army.
- The station maintains communication with the Ukrainian power system through only one power transmission line, which creates the risk of a complete blackout.
- The Minister of Energy called on the IAEA to return the occupied station to the control of Ukraine to guarantee safe operation.
- The Russian occupiers provoked a fire and shelled the ZNPP, which is currently causing serious discussion at the international level.
- IAEA experts discovered damage to the station caused by a drone strike, which reinforces the need to resolve the conflict to prevent further incidents.
What is the current situation at the ZANP
As reported by the Ministry of Energy, one of the two power lines of the occupied Zaporizhzhya NPP was cut off due to enemy shelling. Currently, the station is connected to the Ukrainian power system through only one power transmission line.
In the event of disconnection of the last power transmission line, the station may again be in a state of complete blackout. This is the second threat of a blackout at the ZANP in a week caused by Russian shelling.
A meeting of the Board of Governors of the IAEA will be held in Vienna today. We insist on the urgent implementation of the resolution on the return of the occupied station to the control of Ukraine. This is the only way to guarantee the safe operation of the Zaporizhzhya NPP, said Energy Minister Herman Galushchenko.
The Ministry of Energy noted that restoration of full power to the station will begin as soon as it becomes possible in view of the security situation.
The Russian army set fire to the ZNPP
On August 11, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that the Russian occupiers had set a fire on the territory of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. He called on the IAEA and the world community to respond to the incident.
At the same time, there were no changes in the radiation state in the Zaporizhzhya NPP area.
Yevhen Yevtushenko, the head of the Nikopol RVA, said that the ZNPP is working normally, and the Russians probably set fire to a large number of car tires in the cooling towers. Cooling tower number one is located approximately one kilometer from the power units of the station.
Instead, the Russian occupiers blamed Ukraine for the shelling of Energodar and declared that the radiation background around the ZNPP was normal.
Subsequently, IAEA experts conducted an inspection of the cooling tower after the fire at the Zaporizhzhia NPP. However, they could not establish the cause of the fire.
On August 18, representatives of the IAEA reported that there was a drone strike at the occupied Zaporizhia NPP, which took place outside the station's security zone.
According to preliminary reports, the drone exploded near the cooling ponds, about 100 meters from the Dnipro transmission line, which is the only 750-kilovolt line that supplies power to the ZNPP.
An IAEA team that surveyed the incident site found damage likely caused by a drone explosion.
