External power line to Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant has been restored, Russian managers say

Summary

• Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant has had its external power link restored after repairs, with a second line remaining operational.
• The plant requires a constant supply of external power to cool nuclear fuel and prevent a potential meltdown.
• Ownership of the plant remains disputed, complicating conflict resolution talks despite IAEA monitoring the situation.

MOSCOW - An external power link has been restored to the Russia-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station in Ukraine after the completion of repairs, the plant’s Russian managers said on Dec 29.

A statement claimed the line had been put out of action by “fire from the Ukrainian armed forces”. Repairs were carried out with monitors present from the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency. It said the situation at the plant was under control, with normal radiation levels.

The station is connected to the power grid by two lines - the second had remained in operation through the repair work.

In September and October, the plant was without external power for 30 days, relying on backup diesel generators, until a damaged line was reconnected during a local ceasefire arranged with the IAEA’s help.

Russian forces seized the nuclear plant, Europe’s largest, in the early weeks of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and each side regularly accuses the other of actions endangering safety there.

The plant is not producing electricity but relies on external power to keep nuclear fuel cool and avoid a meltdown.

The future of the plant’s operations is one of the sticking points in talks to resolve the nearly four-year-old conflict pitting Moscow against Kyiv.

Almost all countries consider that it belongs to Ukraine but Russia says it is owned by Russia and a unit of Russia’s state-owned Rosatom nuclear corporation runs the plant.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in December that the US had proposed joint trilateral operation of the nuclear power plant with an American chief manager. REUTERS