Vienna, May 22, (dpa/GNA) – Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant is again completely cut off from external power supply, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, said on Monday.
The “nuclear safety situation at the plant [is] extremely vulnerable. We must agree to protect [the] plant now; this situation cannot continue,” Grossi warned on Twitter.
The Ukrainian nuclear company Enerhoatom, confirmed the incident at the Russian-occupied plant in southern Ukraine. On Monday morning, the high-voltage line supplying the power plant was damaged by shelling, it said. Essential cooling is being ensured by the existing diesel generators, which have enough fuel to keep them operating for 10 days, according to the company.
This is the seventh power failure at the Zaporizhzhya plant, since it was occupied by Russian forces in March 2022.
The IAEA in Vienna is concerned that a failure of the cooling systems, could lead to overheating of the fuel rods and nuclear waste and thus to a nuclear accident.
For some time now, there has been speculation about a Ukrainian counteroffensive in southern Ukraine, which would also include retaking the nuclear power plant. An attempt to recapture it in October last year was unsuccessful.
GNA