For the first time in half a year, access to backup power supply was restored at the ZNPP – IAEA

For the first time in six months, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant restored access to backup power supply from the network after the completion of the repair of the Ferosplavna-1 power line during the local ceasefire brokered by the IAEA, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, said.

“As part of an important step to ensure nuclear safety, after today’s repairs, at 7:43 p.m. local time, the 330 kV Ferosplavna-1 line was reconnected to the Ukrainian ZNPP, providing the much-needed back-up power supply for the first time in six months,” the IAEA reported on the evening of November 8. The line has been out of service since May 7, 2025.

“Together with the restoration of the 750 kV Dniprovska line last month, this is a good day for nuclear safety,” the agency quoted its CEO, Rafael Grossi, as saying.

As noted by the IAEA, the restoration of backup power occurred a little more than two weeks after the successful repair of the Dniprovska line on October 23, which restored the external power supply to the ZNPP, which for a month had relied on emergency diesel generators to provide electricity necessary for the performance of basic nuclear safety and security functions.

At the same time, the agency emphasized that the events in other parts of Ukraine highlighted the extremely unstable situation with nuclear safety.

“Two NPPs – Khmelnytska and Rivne – were forced to reduce electricity production after a nighttime attack on an electrical substation, critical for nuclear safety and security. Rivneska also temporarily reduced production last week after another substation was damaged, which underscores the importance of such energy infrastructure for the safe operation of nuclear power plants,” the IAEA said.

On September 23, Energoatom announced the tenth blackout at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia NPP – the last power transmission line through which the NPP received power from the Ukrainian power system was disconnected. Since then, the station has been powered by emergency diesel generators, posing safety risks.

Zaporizhzhia NPP is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. Russian troops occupied the city of Energodar and the nearby Zaporizhzhya NPP at the beginning of March 2022.

The territory of the station is periodically subjected to shelling, for which Ukraine and Russia blame each other. From time to time, the Ukrainian side declares that the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant is on the verge of blackout due to Russian shelling and as a result damage to power lines.

Kyiv also stated that the Russian army used the nuclear power plant to store military equipment and deploy its servicemen.