The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations nuclear agency, has denounced the partial disconnection late Thursday of a «vital» power supply support line for the Zaporiyia power plant due to shelling that partially damaged the transit system.
«The 330 kilovolt support line was eventually disconnected by shelling in an incident that only highlights once again the fragility of the supply (the plant) receives from the electrical grid,» IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi warned.
The IAEA recalls that, since the six reactors at the plant are shut down, the facilities receive all the electricity needed to ensure their safety with only a 750-kilowatt main external line and additional lines such as Ferosplavna 1, the last of its kind, which stopped supplying at around 9:35 p.m. due to a bombing on the Dnieper River, some distance from the plant.
In addition, although there has been no record of direct shelling of the plant for the last month, IAEA experts have confirmed detonations near the nearby Zaporiyia thermal power plant, also on the river.
The IAEA also reports that Ukrainian authorities are finalizing the restoration of production levels at the other three nuclear power plants under their control after some reduction in supply due to Thursday’s wave of missile attacks.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
