According to the Ukrainian operator Energoatom, a cold shutdown is “the safest state” for the reactor.
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Ukraine announced on Sunday the shutdown of the sixth and last reactor in operation at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant (South), the largest in Europe and occupied by Russian forces. “Today, September 11, 2022, overnight at 03:41 (Paris time) unit number 6 of the [centrale] has been disconnected from the power grid”according to a statement from the Ukrainian operator Energoatom.
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“Preparations are underway for its cooling”, adds the operator. According to Energoatom, a cold shutdown constitutes “the safest state” for the reactor, which for three days had been the only one to produce the electricity necessary for cooling the nuclear fuel and for site security.
Call for the establishment of a demilitarized zone around the plant
The decision to shut it down was taken when the site’s external power supply was restored. “last night” with one of the transmission lines. “In the event of further damage to the transmission lines connecting the site to the electrical system – the risk of which remains high – the internal needs [du site] must be provided by generators running on diesel”, warns Energoatom. In its press release, the operator reiterates its call for the establishment of a demilitarized zone around the plant, the only way according to the operator to ensure its security.
Ukraine and its allies have expressed growing concerns about the security of the Zaporizhia plant. For weeks, confusion has reigned around the site of the power plant, hit by multiple strikes of which kyiv and Moscow accuse each other.