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IAEA chief says situation at ZNPP unstable due backup power line malfunction

"The latest outage follows reports of military activity in the region and beyond," the statement said

VIENNA, August 23. /TASS/. IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi said the situation at the Zaporozhye NPP is unstable due to a brief disconnection of the Ferrosplavnaya-1 power line.

The IAEA was informed that the plant’s 330 kilovolt Ferrosplavnaya-1 backup power line was disconnected on August 22 due to a short-circuit at about 4 p.m.

"The ZNPP confirmed that the Ukraine dispatcher had put the line under maintenance and that it was re-connected at 15:30 today," the official said in a statement.

"The latest outage follows reports of military activity in the region and beyond. The IAEA team have reported hearing explosions near the ZNPP over the past 24 hours," the statement said.

"This all too often occurrence whereby Europe’s largest nuclear power plant is once again forced to rely on only one external source of electricity to maintain its essential nuclear safety and security functions underlines the vulnerability of this major facility," Grossi said in a statement. "This is not sustainable and it is essential that strengthened efforts be taken now to uphold the five concrete principles for protecting the facility."

The ZNPP earlier said on Telegram that the Ferrosplavnaya-1 line was disconnected automatically. The plant’s power supply came from the 750 kV line, known as Dneprovskaya. No safety violations were recorded at the plant. Radiation background at the ZNPP and adjacent territory remained unchanged and within normal levels.

The ZNPP, located in Energodar, has six power units with a total capacity of 6 GW. It is Europe‘s largest nuclear power generating facility. At the end of February 2022, the facility was taken over by Russian forces. Since then, Ukrainian army units have periodically shelled both residential areas in Energodar and the plant itself using drones, heavy artillery and multiple rocket launchers.

The plant's communications director, Yevgeniya Yashina, told TASS that the line was disconnected by Ukraine and IAEA experts were notified.

The Zaporozhye nuclear power plant has the capacity of about 6 GW and is Europe’s largest. All reactors at the plant are in cold shutdown.

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