The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) has been reconnected to the sole available backup power transmission line four months after it was lost.
This has been reported by the IAEA.
The connection of ZNPP to the single power transmission line with a voltage of 330 kV, which remained out of six such backup lines before the war, was interrupted on 1 March due to damage on the other side of the Dnieper River and was restored on the evening of 1 July.
The reconnection of the 330 kV line is important, as over the past few months ZNPP has relied on a single 750 kV main line for external electricity, necessary for reactor cooling and other key nuclear safety functions. Before the conflict began in February 2022, there were four 750 kV lines.
Now the 330 kV line is under voltage and is kept as a backup one and ready to power ZNPP if the 750 kV line becomes unavailable or damaged.
During the conflict, ZNPP has currently lost off-site power supply seven times, forcing the temporary use of emergency diesel generators to get electricity.
"Although the reconnection of the backup power transmission line is positive, the situation with the external power supply of the station remains very vulnerable, highlighting the precarious situation with nuclear safety and on-site safety," said General Director Rafael Mariano Grossi.
Background. As a reminder: the occupiers have been gradually leaving the site of the Zaporizhzhia plant and the satellite city Energodar. The personnel remaining at the station were ordered to "blame Ukraine in case of any emergency situations". The number of military patrols in Energodar has also been gradually decreasing, the Defence Intelligence reports.