The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which has been under the occupation of the Russian Federation, has been completely disconnected from external power supply for over three days. This marks the longest outage in the plant’s history, raising serious concerns about the safety of the facility.
This is reported by Finway
Occupation and Security Risks
After the last power line from Russia was disconnected on Tuesday, September 23, at 16:56, the plant switched to emergency power. Backup diesel generators are being used to support cooling systems and ensure critical functions.
Western experts and Ukrainian officials believe that the Kremlin is deliberately creating a crisis situation to tighten control over the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. According to their assessments, Russia may be preparing a risky launch of at least one reactor even amid the ongoing war.
“Russia is using the nuclear power plant as a bargaining chip in negotiations,” said one Ukrainian official.
Consequences of Prolonged Power Outage
According to stress tests conducted by European regulators following the accident at the Japanese Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant in 2011, the nuclear plant can operate autonomously without an external power source for up to 72 hours. However, as noted by Ukrainian sources, exceeding this limit has never been practically tested before.
According to the IAEA, Russian operators claim that the diesel fuel reserves for the generators will last for another 20 days without replenishment. At the same time, IAEA Director Rafael Grossi warned that the loss of external power supply “increases the likelihood of a nuclear accident.”
Currently, only seven out of 18 available generators are providing cooling at the plant. Ukrainian experts emphasize that if these systems fail, the nuclear fuel in six reactors could begin to heat uncontrollably within a few weeks, potentially leading to a meltdown of the reactor cores.
A similar scenario unfolded at the Japanese Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant in 2011 when, after a powerful 9.0 magnitude earthquake, the reactors were shut down, but an accident still occurred due to cooling issues.