17 hours ago
Ukraine nuclear power plant alert
All the external power lines supplying electricity to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) in Ukraine to help it cool the fuel in its reactors 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.
Its six reactors are all shut down but the plant requires power to its cooling systems for safety. It is reported that the damaged power line helped to ensure radiation safety. 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 blackout.
=Fears of a nuclear disaster have previously been sparked on several occasions when the plant was shelled and was temporarily disconnected from Ukraine's power grid. Ukraine's Energy Minister German Galushchenko today accused Russia of destroying the power line that connects the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to the power grid.
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.
