External power to Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant still out after three days
5 hours ago
- #Nuclear Safety
- #Ukraine War
- #Energy Crisis
- External power to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant has been cut for over three days, a record outage raising safety concerns.
- Emergency generators are powering cooling and safety systems, but the main power line remains disconnected.
- IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi described the situation as 'deeply concerning' and met with Vladimir Putin.
- Western experts and Ukrainian officials suspect Russia is manufacturing a crisis to control the plant.
- Russia may attempt to restart at least one reactor despite wartime risks.
- The plant has lost external power nine times before, with previous damage occurring in Ukrainian-held territory.
- The latest outage was caused by damage on the Russian side, complicating repairs.
- IAEA reports enough diesel for generators to last 20 days, but prolonged outages increase nuclear accident risks.
- If generators fail, nuclear fuel in reactors could overheat, leading to a potential meltdown.
- Russia may be installing a new power line through occupied territories to resolve the crisis.
- Satellite imagery shows construction linking the Russian grid to the plant, possibly enabling reactor restart.
- Greenpeace warns that restarting a reactor during war would be unprecedented and dangerous.
- IAEA and Putin did not publicly discuss Zaporizhzhia after their meeting, leaving the crisis unresolved.