Ukraine has begun repairing external power lines to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, authorities said on Saturday, ending a four-week disruption that left the facility relying on backup systems.
The restoration effort is taking place under localized ceasefire arrangements designed to protect crews working near the front lines.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said the work began after ceasefire zones were established to allow for the repairs to proceed.
The plant currently produces no electricity, but needs power to ensure fuel in the reactors remains cool and no meltdown occurs.
“Restoration of off-site power is crucial for nuclear safety and security. Both sides engaged constructively with the IAEA to enable a complex repair plan to proceed,” Grossi said in a post on social media platform X.
Both the Ukrainian energy ministry and the Russian-appointed management of the plant confirmed the maintenance works.
The Outage
The Zaporizhzhia plant – Europe’s largest, with six reactors – was seized by Russian troops in the first weeks of Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
The outage began on September 23 after the plant’s final external power line was severed — the longest such blackout since Russia occupied the site in 2022 — forcing it to rely solely on diesel generators for reactor cooling.
Both Kyiv and Moscow regularly accuse each other of attacks that endanger nuclear safety. Located near the city of Enerhodar along the Dnipro river, the power plant is close to the front line.
During more than three and a half years of the war, the plant was frequently disconnected from the power grid, but the latest outage was one of the longest.
Ukrainian Energy Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk said that connecting the plant to the Ukrainian grid and ensuring its stable operation by Ukrainian experts were fundamental to preventing a nuclear incident.
The Russian-appointed management of the plant said Russia’s Defence Ministry would play a key role in ensuring the safety of the repair work.
(With inputs from Reuters)
