Restarting occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant technically impossible – Ukraine’s Energoatom

This was stated by Petro Kotin, CEO of Ukraine's nuclear energy agency Energoatom, on May 31.

"The current state of affairs at Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant is similar to what occurred at Chornobyl NPP in the early days of the full-scale Russian invasion. Russian troops initially took control of the nuclear facility, only to realize it brought nothing but complications," he said.

Kotin highlighted several obstacles hindering Russian attempts to restart the temporarily occupied Zaporizhzhia NPP: the loss of water in the Kakhovka reservoir, lack of power lines, shortage of qualified personnel, and the expiration of nuclear fuel at the plant.

"When the leadership of Russia comes to terms with the fact that restarting Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant is technically impossible and that it'll only spell trouble for the occupiers, I believe they'll leave our facility," remarked Petro Kotin.

• The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant was seized by Russian troops in late February 2022. Since then, they've stationed personnel there permanently, storing the military equipment in the machine rooms and occasionally relocating them to positions to shell territories in the Nikopol district of the Dnipropetrovsk region.