The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi said last night that he was discussing with Russia and Ukraine proposals to restore external power supply to the Moscow-controlled Zaporizhia nuclear power plant and reduce the risk of an accident, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
The Zaporizhia NPP, which is the largest in Europe with its six reactors, was taken over by Russian forces in the first weeks after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. Since September 23, the facility's external power supply has been suspended – the tenth time since the war began.
The power plant is not producing electricity, but the fuel in its reactors is being cooled by emergency diesel generators.
Grossi said the external power supply must be restored. "Both sides have said they are ready to make the necessary repairs on their respective sides of the front line. But for this to happen, the security situation on site must be improved so that technicians can do their vital work without risk to their lives," the IAEA director general said in a statement.
Each side accuses the other of compromising nuclear safety.
On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Ukraine that it was playing a dangerous game by carrying out strikes near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiga, for his part, accused Moscow of deliberately cutting off external power to connect the facility to its own power grid.
In his statement, Grossi added that the external power outage at the decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear power plant this week lasted 16 hours. He specified that the dome, erected in 2016 to prevent pollution, suffered a partial power outage and had no backup power for three hours when the power line to the nearby town of Slavutych was cut.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of deliberately organizing an attack to cut off the power supply to the station.
On Friday, part of the Donetsk region was left without electricity due to Russian strikes on energy infrastructure, FOKUS reported.
Druzhkivka, Konstantinovka, as well as some areas of Kramatorsk are without electricity. This was announced by the head of the Donetsk OVA Vadim Filashkin, reports Censor.NET.
"The Russians continue to carry out targeted strikes on critical infrastructure. "Today their target is energy," the official said.
Filashkin added that authorities and relevant services remain on site and continue to work to eliminate the failures caused by the Russian attacks.
As soon as the security situation allows, specialists will immediately restore the power supply, Filashkin added.