Zaporizhzhia Power Plant Forced Offline, As The IAEA Team Reports Risks
One day after a visit by the International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA) team, the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) was forced offline after an artillery shell fell between two reactors, damaging the main power line on Saturday morning, September 3rd.
The IAEA Website stated, "Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) has once again lost the connection to its last remaining main external power line, but the facility is continuing to supply electricity to the grid through a reserve line, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was informed at the site today."
It also said that "Less than 48 hours after Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi on Thursday established the presence of the IAEA Support and Assistance Mission to Zaporizhzhya (ISAMZ) at the facility in southern Ukraine, the Agency’s experts were told by senior Ukrainian staff that the ZNPP’s fourth operational 750 Kilovolt (kV) power line was down. The three others were lost earlier during the conflict."
And added, "IAEA experts – now present at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant located in the middle of a war zone – also learned that the 330/750 kV reserve line linking the facility to a nearby thermal power plant was delivering the electricity the ZNPP generates to the external grid. The same reserve line can also provide backup power to the ZNPP if needed."
Locally installed Russian authorities claimed that the main power line is deep inside the premises of the ZNPP, and the power plant is now only servicing its own required energy, claiming that the main power line had been destroyed after being under fire for around two hours.
AP News says the plant has been completely severed from the Ukrainian power grid multiple times in the past week, as Russia and Ukraine trade blame over mortar fire around the site.
As the IAEA team was visiting the plant on September 2nd, an automatic reactor shutdown by safety systems following 13 hours of shelling. The IAEA team was forced to remain at a checkpoint for the duration of the shelling.
Local Ukrainian officials alleged Moscow had been targeting two other cities which overlook the plant, across the Dnieper river, with rocket fire, stating rockets are falling short.
According to Sputnik, Russia has accused Ukraine of artillery fire targeting the nearby town of Enerhodar leaving artillery shells to fall short near and in the ZNPP perimeter
Explosions could be heard in the little village of Zorya, which is approximately 12 miles away from the ZNPP. Residents of Zorya said that it wasn't the shelling that was the most frightening, but rather the risk of radioactivity from the power plant.
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