IAEA Director General Gathers To Visit Moscow Due To De-Energization Of Zaporizhzhia NPP

Director General of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi, announced a visit to Moscow in connection with the de-energization of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. The Zaporizhzhia NPP must be urgently protected, he said. This was reported by the IAEA press service.

It is noted that the Zaporizhzhia NPP now relies on emergency diesel generators for the electricity required for reactor cooling and other critical nuclear safety functions.

The connection of the Zaporizhzhia NPP to the 750 kV power line was interrupted today around one o'clock in the morning local time, Director General Grossi said, referring to official information from Ukraine, as well as the reports of a group of IAEA experts who were present at the site of the power plant.

The station's 16 diesel generators started operating in automatic mode, providing electricity to 6 reactors. After the situation stabilized, 10 generators were disconnected, 6 were left to provide the reactors with the necessary electricity.

"Resuming shelling, which strikes the plant's only source of external energy, is extremely irresponsible. The Zaporizhzhia NPP must be protected. In the near future, I will go to the Russian Federation and then return to Ukraine to agree on a nuclear safety and protection zone around the plant. This is an absolute and urgent imperative,” Grossi said.

All security systems of the station continue to receive power and work normally, high-ranking Ukrainian operatives at the site told IAEA experts.

Although the 6 reactors are in cold shutdown (the safe state of a nuclear reactor when it is shut down at low pressure and low cooling water temperature), they still need electricity to perform vital nuclear safety and protection functions.

"Each diesel generator of the plant will have enough fuel for at least ten days. The station's engineers have started repairing the damaged power line," the IAEA reported.

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