Staff of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) experienced further hardships because of the military conflict this week, with yet another power outage in the nearby city of Enerhodar and a shortage of tap water also affecting their workplace, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said today.
In the latest incident, the IAEA team stationed at the ZNPP was informed by the plant that a military strike damaged a regional sub-station on Wednesday, cutting electricity to Enerhodar and also impacting water supplies. For the second time this week, the IAEA experts reported that there was no tap water available in some buildings at the site.
People living in Enerhodar, including most ZNPP employees, have faced several such privations in recent weeks, in some cases following reports of drone attacks on electrical sub-stations in the city, located around 5 kilometres from the ZNPP. Enerhodar remained without power yesterday, while water supplies were partially restored.
"Such incidents clearly add to an already very stressful situation for people working at the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant. We will continue to monitor the situation. The general well-being of staff is a source of concern since it can also have an impact on nuclear safety and security," Director General Grossi said.
Despite the instability in the electricity and water supply to Enerhodar, the availability of off-site power and cooling water at the ZNPP was unaffected, as it continues to receive electricity from two remaining off-site power lines. Eleven groundwater wells continue to provide the water needed to maintain cooling of the six reactors in cold shutdown conditions.
In what has become a regular occurrence since the IAEA mission at the ZNPP was established nearly two years ago, the experts have continued to hear explosions and gunfire at various distances from the site over the past week. Due to an air raid alarm, the IAEA team was not able to perform planned walkdowns on 11 July, even though there were no sounds of military activity during this time. On two occasions over the past week, the IAEA team observed smoke in the distance, which the ZNPP said was due to forest fires.
As part of their mission to monitor nuclear safety and security at the ZNPP, the IAEA team has continued to closely follow ongoing maintenance activities, which are of crucial importance not only for the current situation but also for longer-term nuclear safety at the site. Safety system maintenance work on reactor units 1 and 6 and on the main transformer of unit 3 is making continued headway, some of it also observed by the experts.
In recent days, the IAEA experts visited the main control rooms of units 3, 4, 5 and 6, as well as some safety system rooms. Late last week, they went to the turbine building of unit 1, where they were able to go to all floors but once again without being granted access to the western side of the building. They also observed simulator activities in the ZNPP training centre.
The IAEA teams present at the Khelmnytskyy, Rivne and South Ukraine Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs) and the Chornobyl site reported that nuclear safety and security is being maintained at these facilities despite the effects of the ongoing conflict, including multiple air raid alarms over the past week.
The IAEA experts have continued to perform regular walkdowns across these sites. This week, for example, they visited an emergency control centre, observed testing of safety systems and emergency diesel generators, discussed ongoing maintenance activities and monitored the availability of spare parts.
On 16 July, unit 3 of the Rivne NPP was reconnected to the grid following a 45-day refuelling and maintenance outage. However, the unit's power output is currently limited due to grid limitations, with the increasingly vulnerable Ukrainian electricity network continuing to be impacted by military activities across the country.
"I remain very concerned about the vulnerability of the electricity network across Ukraine. Over two years ago, when this tragic conflict first started, I outlined the seven indispensable pillars of nuclear safety and security. Pillar four states that there must be secure off-site power supply from the grid for all nuclear sites. It is essential that the electricity network across all of Ukraine remains stable to help maintain nuclear safety at all nuclear power plants," Director General Grossi said.
Planned maintenance and refuelling activities are continuing at two of the three units at the South Ukraine NPP. The IAEA team at the Chornobyl NPP rotated late last week.
As part of the IAEA's efforts to support Ukraine in maintaining nuclear safety and security during the armed conflict, the Agency arranged a new delivery of equipment to support the Ministry of Energy in the crucial task of ensuring reliable power supplies to and from the NPPs. It brings the total number of deliveries to 56 since the start of the conflict.
In response to requests from the Ministry, the Agency organised four shipments over the past few weeks of different kinds of equipment, including aluminium wires, reinforced concrete supports, protection and control microprocessor devices for sub-stations and switchgears. The procurement was supported with funds from France, Japan, and New Zealand. With this delivery, equipment worth more than 10 million euros has reached Ukraine since the start of the conflict.
