The Director of the Zaporizhia NPP (ZNPP), Yuri Chernichuk, in an interview with TASS, spoke about future plans for the plant and the problems it faces. Asked about various proposals that the plant could be jointly controlled with the US and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) he replied: “Zaporizhia NPP is a Russian facility operated under the control of the Russian operator JSC EO ZNPP by Russian personnel in accordance with the norms, laws and regulations of the Russian Federation. As to any other form of physical control of the station – getting behind the wheel and driving it together – to be honest, I can’t imagine it”.
Asked about sharing power produced by the plant, he said that was possible. “There are large energy systems in the world that connect several countries. Until 2022, the Russian and Ukrainian energy systems were connected to each other, and electricity flows went both from the Ukrainian side to the Russian side and in the opposite direction; this would be nothing new.
TASS asked what other forms of international cooperation were possible. He replied that in normal circumstances this is usual practice. “A lot of international events take place under the auspices of the IAEA. In 1989, following the Chornobyl accident, WANO – the World Association of Nuclear Operators – was founded. The main purpose was to exchange of experience and information about negative and positive developments at stations, so that operators can analyse events that occur at plants in other countries and take corrective measures.”
However, he noted that ZNPP is not currently participating in WANO. “At the moment we are not participating in the Eastern Administrative District. This was a political decision by the organisation. The reason for severing these relations was precisely the conflict in Ukraine. But we are taking steps to ensure that this interaction is resumed in full.”
He was asked why Ukraine continued to claim ownership of ZNPP when they had three other NPPs. He replied: “Physically and legally, from the point of view of the Russian Federation, they have definitely lost the plant.”
TASS also asked how the overall plan to restart the station was progressing. Chernichuk replied: “One of the main tasks is to maintain the station in a safe, technically sound condition. Today it is being implemented. I can vouch for this. We are training personnel, extending service life, licensing and modernising equipment. A lot of work is being done to prepare for providing the station with water, along power distribution lines. And in terms of foreign-made equipment, the transition to domestically produced products is also underway. We are changing what needs to be changed. The process of import substitution began a long time ago and is ongoing”.
