The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN nuclear agency, has confirmed that the Zaporiyia nuclear power plant in Ukraine is back on line after a power outage this week.
The Ukrainian nuclear company Energoatom denounced on Thursday that the activity of the plant, under the control of Russian forces, was suspended due to a power cut following an artillery attack by Russian troops, who denounced on the contrary the dismantling of a «terrorist attack» on the plant, in a new exchange of mutual accusations.
External power was restored Saturday night, two days after it lost all access to electricity «in the latest incident that highlights the precarious nuclear security situation at Europe’s largest facility,» IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi lamented.
Supply was restored at around 10 p.m. local time Saturday with the repair of the 750-kilowatt line to the six power units. The eight emergency diesel generators that were in operation were shut down and put into standby mode.
«The repeated power outages demonstrate all too clearly the extremely serious nuclear safety and security situation facing this important nuclear power plant,» the IAEA official denounced.
«I have repeatedly called for the urgent establishment of a nuclear safety and security protection zone around the nuclear power plant to prevent a nuclear accident. We cannot afford to waste any more time. We must act before it is too late,» he concluded.
