Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant was "on the verge of a nuclear accident"
During the night, the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant loses power - for the eighth time since the attack on Ukraine. The operator has to use generators to prevent a meltdown. The reason for the near-disaster is said to have been an air strike.
Due to a temporary power outage, the Ukrainian nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhya, which is occupied by Russian troops, is said to have been "on the verge of a nuclear accident" during the night, according to the operator. "Last night there was a total blackout at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant," explained Energoatom on Telegram. Generators had to be used. The power supply via the Ukrainian electricity grid was then restored a few hours later in the early morning.
According to Energoatom, two power lines had been "interrupted" at the Russian-controlled nuclear power plant in the south of the country, one of them by an airstrike. "The (Russian) occupation forces do not care about safety at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant," explained Energoatom chairman Petro Kotin.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed in a statement that the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant had been "temporarily without power overnight". This was the eighth power outage since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. According to the IAEA, the failure of one of the two lines was due to an incident "far away from the power plant". The agency did not provide any further details. "The latest external power outage is another reminder of how precarious nuclear safety and the security of the power plant are," IAEA chief Rafael Grossi was quoted as saying in the statement. This safety could be compromised even "by events far away from the plant".
With six reactors, the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. The Russian army took control of the plant shortly after the start of its war of aggression against Ukraine in February 2022. The plant has come under fire several times since then.
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Source: www.ntv.de
