Ukraine’s Enerhoatom: Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in ‘total blackout’ following shelling

The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant was forced to go into a “total blackout mode” due to the recent shelling, Enerhoatom, Ukraine’s nuclear energy operator, reports.

“Yesterday, 2 November 2022, two of the last high-voltage lines connecting the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant with the Ukrainian power grid were damaged after Russia’s shelling. At 23:04, the station moved into a total blackout mode. All 20 diesel generators switched on,” the company said in a statement.

Enerhoatom adds that 9 diesel generators are currently powering the plant. The fifth and the sixth power units moved into a “cold position”. According to the energy operator, the power plant has enough fuel to keep going for 15 days in the state of a total blackout.

On 2 November, Rosenergoatom (Russian energy operator) CEO Renat Karchaa said that the fifth and the sixth reactors of the Zaporizhzhia plant were moved to a hot position.

“This is such a state of the power units when they are heated to a certain level but at the same time not generating energy. Units work to maintain heat,” he added.

The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant is controlled by Russia.

In September, the IAEA experts published a reportafter visiting the facility earlier. They recommended establishing a “security protection zone” around the plant to prevent any damage as well as stopping all shelling due to concerns for the plant’s physical integrity. The experts are fearing a potential nuclear incident if anything happens to the plant itself.

In early October, the last powerline linking the Zaporizhzhia plant to the Ukrainian power grid went out of service after a round of shelling.