Ukraine announced Friday to prepare the connection to the electricity network of its gigantic nuclear power plant in Zaporijjia (south), disconnected the day before while it is under Russian occupation and its site has been bombarded.
“Preparatory work is underway to reconnect two units of the Zaporijjia power plant to the network”, the largest in Europe, Energoatom, the Ukrainian public operator of the country’s four atomic power plants, said on Telegram.
According to Energoatom, a line delivering electricity produced by the plant to the Ukrainian energy network “has been repaired”.
The plant is currently supplied via another repaired line from the Ukrainian electricity network, the operator said, while ensuring that the equipment and security systems of this installation were operating normally.
Ukraine announced on Thursday that the Zaporizhia power plant had been “completely disconnected” from the electricity grid, “for the first time in its history”, after power lines were damaged.
For weeks, Moscow and kyiv have accused each other of several bombings that targeted the site of this power plant, raising fears of a nuclear disaster.
The UN has called for the establishment of a demilitarized zone around the plant to guarantee its security and to allow the dispatch of an international inspection mission.
An inspection mission from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is expected at the plant “next week”, said Thursday evening the adviser to the Minister of Energy Lana Zerkal quoted by the media.
“Even if the Russians have accepted that the mission travels through Ukrainian territory, they are artificially creating obstacles so that the mission cannot reach this installation”, she however accused.
With six reactors with a capacity of 1,000 megawatts each, the Zaporizhia power plant fell into the hands of Russian troops in March.