There is no sign Russia is preparing to restart the Zaporizhia NPP (ZNPP), Reuters has reported, citing an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) official who spoke on conditions of anonymity. “Our teams continue to confirm there is no indication at the moment that there will be any active preparations for a restart of the plant now,” the official said. This followed press reports that Russia was building power lines to connect the plant to its grid.
On 27 May, Greenpeace reported that Russia had begun building a new high-voltage power line in the Zaporozhye and Donetsk regions. This power line, being constructed along the northern coast of the Sea of Azov, is intended to directly connect the occupied ZNPP to the Russian power grid, the report said. As of 23 May, 90 kilometres of the line with installed pylons had been completed, with construction ongoing.
In response, the Permanent Mission of Ukraine to International Organisations in Vienna submitted a note verbale to the IAEA Secretariat, condemning Russia’s apparent intent to connect ZNPP to the Russian power grid and unilaterally resume the plant’s operation.
IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi reaffirmed the Agency’s view that no imminent restart of the plant was planned during a press conference in Kyiv on 3 June following talks with Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Galushchenko. He said the IAEA was discussing the safety condition and evaluation of the plant and its possible restart in the future with both Ukraine and Russia.
Russia took control of the six-unit ZNPP in March 2022 and the following September a referendum was held in Zaporozhye region in which according to Russian officials of the Central Election Commission 93.11% (of 541,093 voters) favoured joining the Russian Federation on a turnout of 85.4%. On 5 October 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree formally transferring ZNPP to Russian jurisdiction under nuclear utility Rosenergoatom (part of Rosatom). A Russian Federal State Unitary Enterprise, JSC Zaporizhia NPP, was established by Rosenergoatom to operate the plant. However, Ukraine continues to claim ownership of the plant.
All six units are currently under cold shutdown. However, one unit had been placed in hot shutdown during the winters to supply heat to the plant itself and to the operator’s town of Energodar. Recently the ZNPP press office said no units will be returned to hot shutdown [in future] until the station resumes generating electricity.
Replying to a question at the Kyiv press conference, Grossi stressed that “all safety conditions must be really fulfilled” before restart of the plant can be considered “and this is not the case at present”. Reiterating this later he noted: “We are far from that.” He said: “We expect to have technical discussions with the management of the plant before any restart can be considered.
Asked about reports that new transmission lines were being built to connect the plant to the Russian grid he said, “We are looking into that including following the situation through the use of drones. We do not share the conclusions of that report on the massive build-up of the construction of power lines. There is some work, but our technical assessment is a different one.” He did not elaborate.
