Partial blackout occurs at Zaporizhzhia NPP due to Russians’ incompetent actions

This is reported by Energoatom.

There was a power outage at the 6th power unit of the Zaporizhzhia NPP, as a result of which diesel generators and security systems were launched and operated for 90 minutes.

"At that time, the occupation management of the plant was investigating the causes of the blackout and deciding what to do with the consequences of their incompetent actions," the statement says. 

Energoatom emphasized that these data are confirmed by the information of the IAEA inspectors who are at the site of the nuclear power plant.

What is known about the situation at the Zaporizhzhia NPP

Russian forces occupied Zaporizhzhia NPP in late February 2022. Since then, there has been a constant presence of personnel and military equipment, which the invading Russian troops store in machine rooms and occasionally deploy to positions for shelling the territories of the Nikopol district in the Dnipropetrovsk region, located on the other side of the Kakhovka Reservoir.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has a monitoring mission at the station, which is supposed to ensure that the nuclear power plant is not used as a military base, that it is not attacked, and that no fire is initiated from the NPP. Power outages at the nuclear power plant occur regularly though. Occupiers began importing explosives to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant last year.

On July 24, the Russian occupiers put the fourth power unit of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant into a shutdown state, which is a violation of international nuclear law.

On July 25, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) recorded anti-personnel mines on the outskirts of the Zaporizhzhia NPP site.

On July 29, the IAEA reported that after the fourth power unit at the occupied Zaporizhzhia NPP was put on shutdown, the fifth power unit was cooled down.

On August 4, IAEA experts stated that they had not noticed mines or explosives on the roofs of two reactor buildings at the plant. They did not have access to the others.

On September 9, IAEA noted increased military activity at Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

On September 28, Ukraine joined the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency for 2023-2025. This is one of the two governing bodies of the IAEA.

The environmental organization Greenpeace has published its findings, which state that international regulatory bodies are unable to effectively oversee safety at the ZNPP, which is under the control of the Russian troops. This poses a threat of a potentially dangerous nuclear situation at the plant.