The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has launched negotiations on the creation of a nuclear safety zone at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant (NPP), head of the agency Rafael Grossi says.
“Kicked off IAEAGC week meeting with US Under Secretary for Arms Control Bonnie Jenkins. Urgent establishment of Nuclear Safety and Security Protection Zone at Zaporizhia NPP in focus. Work to keep Ukraine’s nuclear sites safe and secure remains priority and US support is highly appreciated,” he said on Twitter.
Earlier, the International Atomic Energy Agency published a report on the results of the mission to ZNPP. It said, in particular, about the need to “immediately take intermediate measures to avoid a nuclear incident that could occur due to hostilities.” “The issue can be resolved by immediately creating a safety zone,” the authors pointed out.
The IAEA expressed its readiness to immediately begin consultations on the urgent establishment of such a safety zone.
The work of the Zaporizhzhya NPP was completely stopped, on Sunday night the 6th power unit was disconnected from the power grid, Energoatom reports.
“Today, September 11, 2022, at 03:41 at night, power unit No. 6 of ZNPP was disconnected from the power grid. Preparations are underway for its cooling and transfer to a cold state,” the statement said.
Energoatom noted that for the past three days, the 6th power unit has been operating in the “island” mode, providing only for the ZNPP’s own needs at a critically low power level (from 114 to 140 MW), since all communication lines were damaged due to Russian shelling Zaporozhye NPP with the energy system of Ukraine.
The NAEC noted that on Saturday evening, after the resumption of operation of one of these communication lines, the power supply for the ZNPP’s own needs became possible from the energy system of Ukraine. Consequently, it was decided to turn off power unit No. 6 and transfer it to the safest state – a cold shutdown.
“In the event of repeated damage to the communication lines with the power system, the risk of which remains high, the ZNPP’s own needs will be powered by diesel generators, the service life of which is limited by the technological resource and the volume of diesel fuel,” the NAEC noted.
NNEGC Energoatom is taking all possible measures to organize the supply of additional batches of diesel fuel to the Zaporizhia NPP, and also calls for an end to Russian shelling of ZNPP communication lines with the power system and the creation of a demilitarized zone around it to prevent an emergency at the plant.
The press service stressed that after that, the communication lines can be repaired, to ensure the inclusion and safe operation of the station.
Four out of six employees of the International Atomic Energy Agency, who remained at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant seized by Russian troops since September 1, have left it, Energoatom reported
“Today, four out of six representatives of the IAEA inspection team completed work at the Zaporozhye NPP and left its site,” the company said in a statement on Monday morning. According to him, two representatives will continue to work at the station on a permanent basis.
As reported, the head of the IAEA, Grossi, announced a permanent mission of the agency to the Zaporizhzhya NPP, consisting of two people from the beginning of this week.
Power unit No. 5 of the Zaporizhzhya NPP, which was shut down in an emergency on September 1, is back in operation, Energoatom reported.
“Today, September 2, 2022, the 5th power unit of the Zaporizhzhya NPP, which was turned off on September 1 in the morning as a result of another mortar attack by the Russian occupation forces at the ZNPP site, was connected to the power grid at 13:10,” Energoatom’s Telegram channel reported. on Friday.
According to the report, the increase in power continues.
“The station has two power units (No. 5, 6 – ER), which produce electricity for the needs of Ukraine. There are no comments on the operation of equipment and security systems,” the company said.
All six power units of the Russian-occupied Zaporozhye nuclear power plant remain offline despite the restoration of the ZNPP 750 kV overhead transmission line – Dneprovskaya.
“All six units remain disconnected from the grid after the resumption of the power line,” the IAEA said in a statement on Ukraine on Thursday evening.
The agency also noted that at the time of publication there is no information on the direct cause of the power outage, and in the event of a loss of external power, ZNPP, like other nuclear power plants around the world, still has diesel generators available to provide backup power.
“Almost every day, a new incident occurs at or near the ZNPP. We cannot afford to waste any more time. I am determined to personally lead the IAEA mission to the plant in the coming days to help stabilize the situation with nuclear safety and security,” he said in connection with with this, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi, whose words are quoted in the message.
On his Twitter, Grossi, after meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris, also noted that France is fully mobilized to support the efforts of the IAEA to send an emergency mission of experts to the Zaporozhye NPP.
In addition, the British Ministry of Defense on its Twitter on Thursday reported that Russia had installed armored personnel carriers within 60 meters of the fifth ZNPP reactor.
“Probably, Russian troops tried to hide the vehicles by parking them under overhead pipes,” the Defense Ministry suggested, adding that, apparently, Russia was ready to use any Ukrainian military activity near the ZNPP for propaganda purposes.
“As long as Russia continues its military occupation of the ZNPP, the main risks to the operation of the reactor are likely to remain failures in the operation of the reactor cooling systems, damage to the backup power supply, or errors by pressure personnel,” the ministry said.
As reported, on August 25, ZNPP was completely disconnected from the grid for the first time in its history due to the shutdown of the last (fourth) ZNPP communication line with the Ukrainian energy system – 750 kV overhead line ZNPP – “Dneprovskaya”.
According to the NAEK Energoatom, the overhead lines were switched off due to fires at the ash dumps of the Zaporizhzhya TPP, located next to the Zaporizhzhya NPP, as a result of shelling by the Russian military.
The shutdown of the overhead line led to the operation of the protection of two operating ZNPP power units – Nos. 5-6.
Three other communication lines were damaged earlier during shelling by the Russian military.
“The NPP’s own needs for power supply are provided from the energy system of Ukraine through the communication line of ZNPP – Zaporizhzhya TPP. There are no comments on the operation of automation and security systems yet,” the NAEC explained.
After the station was seized by the Russian military on March 4, it switched to work in two blocks out of six, then for two weeks it worked with three, and recently again with two.
The head of the IAEA, Grossi, suggested on August 25 that the mission to the ZNPP is a matter of a few days.
