“Russia’s attempt to restart the Zaporizhia NPP could lead to a nuclear disaster due to the lack of necessary equipment, spare parts and a critical shortage of water to cool the reactors. The head of Energoatom, Pavlo Kovtonyuk, explained that the main control, protection and monitoring systems at the station are Ukrainian developments, which are technically incompatible with Russian technologies. Since spare parts for these systems are manufactured exclusively on”, — write on: ua.news
Russia’s attempt to restart the Zaporizhia NPP could lead to a nuclear disaster due to the lack of necessary equipment, spare parts and a critical shortage of water to cool the reactors.
The head of Energoatom, Pavlo Kovtonyuk, explained that the main control, protection and monitoring systems at the station are Ukrainian developments, which are technically incompatible with Russian technologies. Since spare parts for these systems are manufactured exclusively at Ukrainian enterprises, full and safe operation of the facility by Rosatom is impossible without a complete redesign of the station.
In order to restore the operation of the power units, the occupiers would have to completely replace the American nuclear fuel with Russian fuel, which would require a radical restructuring of the control systems adjusted to Westinghouse’s specific technical parameters. Although Rosatom declares its readiness to return the fuel to the USA, the technical implementation of such a replacement under occupation conditions creates unprecedented risks. Kovtoniuk drew a parallel with the Chernobyl disaster, stressing that the accident may not occur due to malicious intent, but due to the operation of complex equipment in unpredictable and inappropriate conditions.
An additional risk factor is the lack of water resources after the destruction of the Kakhovskaya HPP in 2023. The available reserves in the cooling pond and wells are not enough to maintain a safe temperature regime even for one reactor in working condition. Any manipulations by the occupation administration with the modes of operation of the ZNPP units against the background of personnel shortage and lack of expertise from Ukrainian personnel only bring the plant closer to the scenario of an uncontrolled accident.
Previously at NAEK “Energoatom” reported that the joint use of the temporarily occupied Zaporizhzhya NPP with the Russian side is technically impossible.
During the tripartite negotiations between Ukraine, the USA and Russia, held on January 23-24, 2026 in Abu Dhabi, Moscow put forward a proposal on the distribution of ZNPP generation.
Russian invaders keep trying to legalize the occupation of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, creating conditions for the restoration of electricity production and further connection of the ZANP to the Russian power system.
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