Ukraine’s four nuclear power plants have been disconnected from the power grid as a result of the wave of shelling launched Wednesday by the Russian Armed Forces, according to the Ukrainian operator, which warned that the Zaporiyia plant operates with diesel generators.
Energoatom has reported on its Telegam account that, due to a decrease in power, emergency mode has been activated at the Khmelnitsky, Rivne and South Ukraine plants, totaling nine reactors. All of them are controlled by the Ukrainian authorities.
The Zaporiyia plant, with six reactors and taken over by Russian forces at the beginning of March, has gone directly into «total blackout», so that it is operating without any electrical connection, relying on diesel generators.
The company has ruled out a rise in radiation indicators due to the latest bombardments, although the Ukrainian authorities and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have repeatedly warned of the risk of disconnecting the plants from the general grid.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi met this Wednesday with a Russian delegation to discuss the possible creation of a «protection zone» around the Zaporiyia nuclear power plant, considered the largest in Europe.