Urgent: Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant On Auxiliary Power Due To Artillery Fire

Urgent imperative: Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant on auxiliary power

Aljazeera

Ukraine’s besieged Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant lost its last external power source as a result of renewed artillery fire and is now relying on emergency diesel generators.

The UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said the plant’s link to a 750-kilovolt line was cut at 1am on Saturday. All six reactors at Europe’s biggest nuclear plant are shut down but they still require electricity for cooling and other safety functions.

Engineers started the work to repair the damaged power line and the plant’s generators. Each generator has sufficient fuel for at least 10 days, the IAEA noted.

“The resumption of shelling, hitting the plant’s sole source of external power, is tremendously irresponsible,” IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said in a statement.

Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of attacking the plant and of “nuclear terrorism”.

If the cooling system fails, this could lead to an uncontrolled heat build-up, a meltdown, and a fire that could release and spread radiation from the containment structures. Because of the plant’s geographic location, a “catastrophic” radiation release could hit any part of the European continent, experts say.

Grossi said he will soon travel to Russia and then to Ukraine in attempts to set up a “nuclear safety and security protection zone” around the plant.

“This is an absolute and urgent imperative,” he said.