For the 17th time during the military conflict, the Zaporizhia NPP (ZNPP) temporarily lost offsite power overnight, the International Atomic Energy Agency reported on X. The power outage was caused by a drone strike on the Nikopolska substation on the other side of the Dnipro River from the ZNPP, leading to the temporary disconnection of the site’s only remaining power line for about 20 minutes. The ZNPP’s emergency diesel generators provided electricity until the line was reconnected shortly before midnight. The incident once again underlines constant dangers to nuclear safety during the war, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said.
Meanwhile, members of the Department of Nuclear and Radiation Safety Inspections of the Trans-NPP Don Department of the Federal Service for Environmental, Technological & Nuclear Supervision nuclear regulator (Rostechnadzor) assessed and inspected the damage to the turbine hall of unit 6 caused by an earlier drone strike. Taking into account the presence of high-pressure steam pipelines and containers containing explosive environments in the immediate vicinity, the department inspectors concluded that the explosion of the UAV could have caused a serious accident.
Rostechnadzor expressed extreme concern about the situation surrounding the strikes on ZNPP. “Such attacks are outside the logic of military operations, are a violation of key principles of nuclear safety and can provoke an environmental disaster not only for Ukraine and Russia, but throughout the European continent.”
