MOSCOW, July 4. /TASS/. Ukraine cut off the Dneprovskaya power line that feeds the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, said Renat Karchaa, an advisor to the director general of Rosenergoatom.
"At 01:07 am Moscow time today <...> they (Ukraine - TASS) cut off Dneprovskaya Line 750," he said on Rossiya-24 television.
The Zaporozhye NPP said that after the line was disconnected, the plant switched to using standby transformers.
"No violations of the limits and conditions of safe operation have been recorded. Radiation background on the territory of the Zaporozhye NPP, in the sanitary protection zone and observation zone is normal and consistent with the natural background," the plant said on Telegram.
The day before, the International Atomic Energy Agency said that ZNPP has been reconnected to one of the six reserve 330 kV power lines after a four-month hiatus. The line is in working condition, and will be used for backup.
Karchaa told TASS earlier that the reconnection of the plant to the backup line significantly raised its safety. He said that before the reconnection, power to the plant had been supplied only though the Dneprovskaya 750 kV Line, which jeopardized its safety.
The Zaporozhye NPP is located in the town of Energodar and includes six reactors with a total capacity of 6 GW. It is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. At the end of February 2022, Russian forces took control of the plant. Since then, Ukrainian military units have sometimes shelled Energodar residential areas and the plant using drones, heavy artillery, and multiple-launch rocket systems.