Three units of Khmelnytsky, Rivne NPPs operate at reduced capacity for ten days after attacks – IAEA

Three units of the Khmelnytsky and Rivne nuclear power plants (NPPs) have been operating at reduced capacity for the past ten days after a military attack damaged an electrical substation critical to nuclear safety, said Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

"Following the latest military activity targeting a substation, during the night of 7 November, the Khmelnytsky and Rivne NPPs were each disconnected from one of their two 750 kilovolt (kV) power lines. In addition, the grid operator ordered a reduction in electricity output of some of their reactors. Today, although one of the affected lines has since been restored, the other remains out of service. Three reactors continue to operate at limited power, at the request of the grid operator," the IAEA released a statement on its website, citing Grossi.

It is also noted that the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) remains connected to the grid after repair work was carried out under the protection of local ceasefire agreements, which were mediated by the IAEA in late October.

However, one of the two power lines that supply the ZNPP — the Dniprovska 750 kV — was disconnected again on Friday evening, November 14, after the protection system was triggered. The agency notes that the cause of the disconnection is still under investigation.

As reported, the 330 kV Ferosplavna-1 power line was reconnected to the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) on November 10 after repairs were completed. This provided backup power for the first time in six months.

The Zaporizhia NPP recovered from its tenth blackout on October 23 after completing repairs to the 750 kV Dniprovska power line and restoring the plant's external power supply. Prior to that, the plant had relied on diesel generators for a month.

The Ministry of Energy stated that Russian occupation forces caused the month-long power outage by systematically shelling and damaging the power lines connecting the Zaporizhia NPP to the Integrated Power System of Ukraine.

Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Ukrainian power engineers have restored the Zaporizhia NPP's power lines 42 times.