IAEA reacts to 8 blackouts at Zaporizhzhya NPP
Kyiv • UNN
The eighth power outage occurred at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant. The reactor was cooled by diesel generators. The IAEA noted this event as a reminder of nuclear safety risks.
Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) has experienced the eighth complete disconnection from external power supply. As noted in press release from the International Atomic Energy Agency, the outage was another reminder of the instability of nuclear safety and security. was another reminder of the instability in the field of nuclear safety, UNN writes.
ZNPP has lost contact with both external power lines - this is the eighth time.
An IAEA team of experts present at the site reported that that ZNPP's connection to the only backup 330 kV power line kV was interrupted on December 1 at around 22:26 local time due to a damage to the external grid. The loss of the only 750 kV line at the plant followed about five hours later. of the only 750 kV line at the plant, the main supplier of outside of electricity. The cause turned out to be in the external grid far from the ZNPP.
As a result, 20 diesel generators automatically kicked in of the facility. The ZNPP staff then reduced the number of operating of diesel generators to eight, enough to ensure that the plant's six plant's reactors, all of which were shut down, would have sufficient power for the necessary cooling.
The damaged 750 kV transmission line. the only remaining main power line at the ZNPP compared to the four before the conflict - was reconnected just after 8 a.m. local time today. local time. Currently, power is supplied through the 750 kV line without external redundancy. kV line without external redundancy.
"The latest external power outage is yet another reminder of the unstable nuclear safety and security situation at the plant, which can be affected by events far away from the actual site. The IAEA continues to do everything possible to help prevent a a nuclear accident. I also call on all parties not to take any actions that could jeopardize the plant," said IAEA Director General MAGATE director general Rafael Grossi.
During the external power outage, the operation of the four main heat pumps of one of ZNPP's reactors, Unit 4, were interrupted. В at present the unit is being transferred from the semi-hot shutdown mode back to the hot shutdown mode. shutdown mode back to the hot shutdown mode to produce heat and steam for the facility and Energodar. The remaining five reactors remain in cold shutdown mode.
This was the first complete shutdown of ZNPP's external power supply since May 22 of this year.
