Nuclear Plant Briefly Leaves Ukraine's Grid, Causing Alarm

Blackout renews concerns Russia will take Zaporizhzhia's power
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 25, 2022 2:30 PM CDT
Nuclear Plant Briefly Leaves Ukraine's Grid, Causing Alarm
A Russian serviceman guards an area of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station on May 1.   (AP Photo/File)

Three lines tying the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant to Ukraine's electric grid already had been cut during fighting with Russian troops. On Thursday, the final one went down temporarily, knocking the plant offline, sending the Nikopol area into a blackout, and raising fears of a nuclear disaster, the Guardian reports. "The actions of the invaders caused a complete disconnection of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant from the power grid," said Energoatom, which operates the plant. It was the first time the plant had been cut off in its nearly 40 years. Concerns about safety at the plant, which is occupied by Russian forces and staffed by a skeleton crew, have been increasing.

The plant had been running on two of its six reactors. One of them went back in operation later Thursday, restoring power to the region, per the AP. While the reactor was down, the Zaporizhzhia plant itself received power from a backup connection to a conventional power plant nearby, Energoatom said. Three backup lines were in place before the Russian invasion. The line that went down after two fires does not supply power to the reactors' cooling systems; the potential loss of that electricity is one of experts' biggest fears.

The Russians have been urged by Ukraine and other nations not to mess with the plants' connections, possibly to divert the power it generates to Russia. "We certainly don't want that to happen. We're continuing to talk with Russia" in the UN Security Council, Bonnie Jenkins, US undersecretary of state, said Thursday. The head of Energoatom told the Guardian on Wednesday that Russian engineers have worked out plans to redirect the power. In theory, the idea was to implement them only if the plant lost all connections during battle. But Ukraine fears Russia might intentionally sever the lines. (More Russia-Ukraine war stories.)

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