Work has begun to repair the damaged power supply to Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the head of the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog said.
Work has begun to repair the damaged power supply to Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the head of the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog said Saturday. The repairs are hoped to end a precarious four-week outage that saw it dependent on backup generators.
Russian and Ukrainian forces established special ceasefire zones for repairs to be safely carried out, the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a social media statement attributed to head Rafael Grossi. The agency hailed the restoration of off-site power as « crucial for nuclear safety and security. »
« Both sides engaged constructively with the IAEA to enable the complex repair plan to proceed », the statement said.
Ukrainian Energy Minister Svitlana Grynchuk confirmed that Ukrainian specialists were involved in restoring power lines to the plant and said that its stable operation and connection with the Ukrainian power grid were essential to prevent a nuclear incident. She also said that it was the 42nd time since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022 that power lines to the plant had to be
restored.
