The Zaporizhia NPP (ZNPP) has resumed electricity supply via the 330 kV Ferrosplavnaya-1 high-voltage line. It was shut down on 2 January by the automatic protection system as a result of military activity leaving the plant solely dependent on the 750 kV Dneprovskaya power line. Power supply is once again provided via two lines, Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhache confirmed.
This “significantly increases the reliability of the plant’s power supply”, he said. “Using a single line for the NPP’s power supply carries risks, as in the event of its shutdown, it is necessary to promptly deploy backup diesel generators to ensure the operation of the cooling systems for the power units.”
Repairs at Ferrosplavnaya-1 began on 18 January after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) brokered a local ceasefire by Russia and Ukraine. Likhachev thanked the Russian Ministry of Defence, representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the leadership of the IAEA, and the agency’s Director General Rafael Grossi, who “did everything to ensure that the agreements on the ceasefire were not only reached but also implemented”. IAEA said in a post on X that a Ukrainian team was conducting the repairs, with an IAEA team on the ground monitoring progress.
Earlier, an IAEA team left Vienna to travel to the frontline in order to observe the repair works. “The IAEA continues to work closely with both sides to ensure nuclear safety at the ZNPP and to prevent a nuclear accident during the conflict. This temporary ceasefire, the fourth we have negotiated, demonstrates the indispensable role that we continue to play”, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said.
Meanwhile, the IAEA team based at ZNPP assessed the actions taken by the plant to ensure nuclear safety during adverse weather conditions. During walkdowns, the team confirmed that winter protection measures were in place to prevent freezing of water in the groundwater wells supplying cooling water for safety systems that cool the reactors and used fuel pools. The ZNPP informed the team that the pumps operating in the unit pumping stations of the six shutdown reactors, would continue to work even if ice was to form on the surface of the inlet channel, and that currently no ice had been observed in that area.
Additional efforts against the freezing temperatures include temperature controls for local heating to ensure that the emergency diesel generators are ready to start and operate properly in case of another loss of off-site power event. The team continues to monitor the measures taken.
Meanwhile, a scheduled inspection at ZNPP has confirmed that the safety systems meet the requirements. Russian regulator Rostekhnadzor staff conducted the inspection. The purpose was to verify compliance with mandatory requirements for the use of nuclear energy during testing of the 2RDES1 diesel generator, which is one of the elements of the station’s backup power supply system.
According to the results of the inspection, no deficiencies affecting nuclear, radiation, and technical safety were identified. The operation of the diesel generator set complied with the established standards. The radiation situation at plant site and the adjacent territory was within the normal range and corresponds to the natural background level, the ZNPP press service reported.
Such routine inspections of the station’s safety-related systems and equipment will be conducted throughout 2026 on a systematic basis, as in previous periods, as part of ongoing state supervision, ZNPP noted.
