MELITOPOL, January 13. /TASS/. Work to repair and extend the service life of three of the six power units at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant will begin this year, the plant’s employees said on Friday.

"Already this year, work on both the repair and the extension of the service life of power units 1, 2 and 6 should begin," a statement posted on the plant’s official Telegram channel said.

It is noted that this should be done keeping in mind active integration of the nuke plant into the Russian legal framework in full accordance with the requirements of Russian state safety watchdog (Rostechnadzor), including the staffing of the operating organization. "Therefore, reinforcement of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant with experts from Russian plants built under similar projects is required," the statement said.

In late December 2022, the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant director Yury Chernichuk said that he expected all six of the plant's power units to be launched at their rated capacity in the near future.

Earlier, two Zaporozhye nuke plant’s power units were switched to hot shutdown. In this mode, the power unit generates heat, but does not produce electricity.

The Zaporozhye nuke plant is the largest one currently operating in Europe. It came under Russian control at the end of February 2022. In early October, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree transferring ownership of the plant's facilities to the Russian Federation. Now the operation of the nuclear power plant is almost completely suspended: none of its reactors is operating at full capacity. Ukrainian army units periodically shell both residential areas of Energodar and the territory of the nuclear power plant.