Europe’s largest nuclear power plant has been reconnected to Ukraine’s power grid, allowing engineers to shut down its last operating reactor in a bid to avoid a radiation disaster as fighting rages in the region. The six-reactor Zaporizhzhia plant lost its external power source a week ago after all power lines were disconnected as a result of shelling. It operated in “island mode” for several days, generating electricity for critical cooling systems from its only remaining operational reactor. Nuclear power operator Energoatom said one of those power lines was restored “to operational capacity” late Saturday, making it possible to operate the plant’s safety and other systems with electricity from Ukraine’s electricity system. “Therefore, a decision was made to shut down power unit No. 6 and move it to the safest state – cold shutdown,” the company said in a statement. Energoatom said there was a risk that external power could be cut again, so the plant would have to activate emergency diesel generators to keep the reactors cool and prevent a nuclear meltdown. The head of the company told The Associated Press on Thursday that the plant only has diesel fuel for 10 days. The plant, one of the 10 largest nuclear power plants in the world, has been occupied by Russian forces since the early stages of the war. Ukraine and Russia have blamed each other for shelling around the plant that destroyed power lines connecting it to the grid. Energoatom renewed its appeal to Russian forces to leave the Zaporizhzhia plant and allow a “demilitarized zone” to be created around it. The International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN nuclear watchdog, which has two experts at the plant, confirmed to the AP on Sunday that external power has been restored to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. “Following yesterday’s restoration of the power line – which connects the ZNPP to the switching station of a nearby thermal power plant – the ZNPP operator this morning shut down its last operating reactor, which last week provided the plant with the required power after the disconnecting it from the network,” the IAEA said in an emailed statement. “IAEA staff present at the ZNPP were briefed this morning on these new developments, which were also confirmed by Ukraine.” IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi called for a safe zone around the plant to prevent a disaster.
Jon Gambrell and Hanna Ahrirova contributed to this report.
