The connection of the Zaporizhia NPP (ZNPP) to its main power line has again been restored the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed. However, the overall situation remains precarious.
The ZNPP, whose six reactors remain in cold shutdown, lost connection to its 750 kilovolt (kV) Dneprovskaya power line just three weeks after it had been reconnected following a month during which ZNPP had to depend on diesel generators for essential cooling. However, following repairs carried out approximately 16 kilometres from the plant, the line was restored, giving the plant renewed access to two off-site power lines, including also the 330 kV Ferosplavnaya-1 line, IAEA reported
In late October, a month-long loss of all off-site power at the ZNPP was resolved thanks to repairs conducted on both sides of the frontline under the protection of IAEA-brokered localised and temporary ceasefires. However, the subsequent disconnection of the 750 kV line was yet another reminder of the extremely fragile external power situation during the conflict, the Agency said.
“I once again call for the full compliance, at all times, with the IAEA’s Five Concrete Principles. It is of paramount importance that a nuclear accident at the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant is prevented,” IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said in his opening statement to the recent meeting of the Board of Governors.
However, shelling continued, according ZNPP Communications Director Yevgeniya Yashina. “Everything is fine at the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant, but the Ukrainian Armed Forces are still shelling the area near the city [of Energodar],” she told RIA Novosti.
Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s Permanent Representative to International Organisations in Vienna, addressing the IAEA Board of Governors session on Nuclear Safety, Physical Nuclear Security, and Guarantees in Ukraine, said: “Residents of the city of Energodar are constantly subjected to psychological pressure and blackmail.” He added: “Threats are being made against the relatives of the station’s [ZNPP’s] employees who live in territories controlled by Kiev.”
Meanwhile, several different versions of a Ukrainian peace plan proposed by the US have been reported in the press as well as an alternative European plan, all of which contain proposals for ZNPP. The initial version of the 28-point peace agreement proposed that ZNPP should be launched under the supervision of the IAEA, and that Russia and Ukraine would share the electricity generated by the plant equally. The original European plan, on the other hand, said ZNPP must be returned to Ukraine. It remains to be seen what the final version will be following US-EU-Ukrainian talks in Geneva.
According to Stanislav Mitrakhovich, an expert from the Financial University under the Government of Russia and the National Energy Security Fund, joint Russian-Ukrainian use of ZNPP is “quite feasible”. He noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin had repeatedly proposed this option, and Moscow had voiced its support for it.
However, Russia has repeatedly made clear that ownership of ZNPP is not negotiable. The plant has been fully integrated into Rosatom’s management system and its return to Ukraine is out of the question. Russia has also made clear that it eventually intends to restart the plant, once military hostilities end. Initial preparations for this are already underway and will include linking the plant to the Russian grid. Links to the Ukrainian grid could also be maintained, making the supply of power to Ukraine a possibility.
Mitrakhovich points out that electricity to cool the ZNPP reactors currently comes from Ukraine. “In other words, there was always a need for cooperation.… This is a compromise that is justified by Russian interests,” he concluded.
