Four employees of the Zaporizhia NPP (ZNPP) were injured on the way to work as a result of an explosion on 7 August that took place after unmanned aerial vehicles mined roads in Energodar, ZNPP reported on its Telegram channel. The injured personnel included members of the fire safety department, the departmental security service, and the transport workshop. Two of them are in a serious condition, and two others sustained minor injuries.
“The use of drones to lay mines on roads means that ordinary routes used daily by station workers, emergency services, and city residents become a zone of deadly danger. Any civilian vehicle, motorcycle, or bicycle could become a victim of such an attack,” ZNPP said. “Despite the ongoing threats, the staff at ZNPP continue to carry out their duties, ensuring that all safety parameters of the plant are monitored.”
The following day, ZNPP reported that external power supply to the plant had again been cut but was restored in less than an hour. “A short‑term interruption of external power supply occurred. The plant’s automation system activated and ensured a normal transition to a backup power supply scheme. The backup diesel generators started up automatically and fully supplied the systems necessary for the safe operation of the plant with electricity.”
ZNPP still depends on only the 330 kV Ferosplavnaya-1 line for its external power. The latest update by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi on 6 August said the recent rise in off-site power losses at ZNPP “highlights the fragility of the electrical grid serving the site and the need for continued efforts to help prevent a nuclear accident during the military conflict”.
He noted that ZNPP has lost access to external power twice in the previous week, bringing the total number of such events since the conflict began to 24, with 12 occurring in the past four months alone. “This trend, with the rising number of off-site power cuts at the ZNPP, is deeply concerning and clearly not sustainable,” said. “The Agency will continue its work to help improve the situation and support nuclear safety and security at the site.”
ZNPP has been without its main external power line, the 750 kV Dneprovskaya line, since March this year. The line was initially unavailable because of damage caused by military activity and was repaired in early June under an IAEA-brokered ceasefire. However, it remains unavailable because the substation that provides power to the line was heavily damaged by military strikes in May.
In another development, the IAEA team at the ZNPP was informed that the site has decided to raise the water levels in the used fuel pools of all six reactor units. The measure is intended to increase the time available before water could begin to boil off in the event of a prolonged loss of off-site power during which the site exhausted its diesel fuel supplies and could no longer continue cooling the pools.
The decision was taken in light of the prolonged unavailability of the 750 kV Dneprovskaya line and current challenges in resupplying the site’s diesel fuel stores because of military activity in the area. The work began this week, with the IAEA team present to observe.
