On June 20, another external power outage occurred at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. This is the 20th such incident since the start of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine, UNN reports, citing the IAEA and the BBC.
Details
According to the agency, the only available external power line, "Ferroalloy-1," was disconnected. The cause was problems with internal power lines on the plant's territory.
After the loss of external power, emergency diesel generators automatically activated. They provide backup power for cooling the reactor core and maintaining other critical nuclear safety systems.
Grossi warned about risks to nuclear safety
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi emphasized that the latest outage once again demonstrates the need to strengthen the connection of the Zaporizhzhia NPP to the power grid to prevent a nuclear accident.
The Zaporizhzhia NPP, which is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, has been under Russian occupation since the spring of 2022. The parties to the conflict regularly accuse each other of shelling and creating threats to the plant's safety.
ZNPP reconnected to the grid after emergency shutdown - IAEA14.06.26, 00:38