IAEA Director General considers restoration of external power supply to Zaporizhia NPP political, not technical issue
IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi continues discussions with Ukraine and Russia on detailed proposals to restore external power supply to the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), which has been relying on backup power for the past ten days.
“For nuclear safety, this is still a very serious situation. I’m calling on both sides to do what is necessary to prevent a further deterioration. It is a question of political will, not whether it is technically possible, which it is,” Director General Grossi said on Friday night.
He said both sides have expressed their readiness to carry out the necessary repairs on their respective sides of the front line, but for this to happen, the security situation on the ground must improve so that technicians can carry out their work safely.
“I’m in continuous contact with senior Russian and Ukrainian officials to achieve this important objective as soon as possible,” IAEA Director General said.
He reported that for now, the site’s emergency diesel generators are functioning without problems, and there is also plenty of fuel in reserve.
“However, this is an unprecedented situation that must be resolved without further delay. It is a nuclear safety issue and it is in everybody’s interest to fix it,” he stressed.
He recalled that the current loss of external power is the longest of ten similar events that the Zaporizhia NPP has been subjected to during more than three and a half years of its occupation by Russia.
The Director General clarified that as of Friday morning, eight power generators were operating at the plant, producing a total capacity of 20-22 MW, sufficient to meet nuclear safety requirements, with an additional 12 generators available as backup. The IAEA team at the site is receiving frequent updates of all important nuclear safety parameters, showing that the EDGs are continuing to reliably provide the power needed for cooling as there has been no increase in the coolant temperatures of both the reactor cores and spent fuel pools. The team has also conducted radiation monitoring, showing no increase in radiation levels.
As reported, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated on October 1 that Russia is exploiting the weak position of the IAEA and its director. "The Russians are doing absolutely nothing to rectify the situation and enable Ukrainian specialists to restore external power to the Zaporizhia NPP, which should be operating continuously under normal conditions. Russia is deliberately creating the threat of radiation incidents, unfortunately exploiting the weak position of the IAEA and Director Rafael Grossi, as well as the fragmented global focus," Zelenskyy wrote.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha noted that Russia intentionally disconnected the Zaporizhia NPP's external power supply, which the plant received from Ukraine's power grid, in order to conduct a test to connect the plant to its own power grid.