According to the president of the Ukrainian atomic agency Energoatom, Petro Kotin, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was “on the brink of a nuclear and radioactive accident” tonight due to a complete blackout at the plant, which was resolved this morning. “The (Russian) occupiers are not interested in the safety of the plant” and “will continue to create dangerous situations, blackmailing the whole world with nuclear and radioactive accidents,” Kotin said.
According to what was explained by Energoatom on Telegram, this night «a complete blackout occurred at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant», after «a breakdown occurred in the Zaporizhzhya Tpp – Ferosplavna electrical transmission line with a voltage of 330 kV, through which the station received energy from the Ukrainian electricity grid». And at 02:31 local time, “the last 750 kV line ‘Zaporizka NPP – Dniprovskà’ also went offline during an air alert.” In connection with the complete blackout, “the power station switched to powering its needs with diesel generators: all 20 diesel generators activated automatically, 8 of which were subsequently left in operation.” «Thanks to the efforts of Ukrainian specialists, at 7 am on December 2, the connection with the Ukrainian electricity system was restored» and «the operation of the 750 kV electric transmission line».
For the Ukrainians, the biggest security threat is posed by unit 4 of the plant, which according to Kotin “is kept in a hot state, contrary to the rules and regulations on nuclear and radioactive safety, by operating the reactor plant and the complex energy system in a way it was not designed.” Energoatom “launches a appeal to the international community to commit to bringing the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant back under the full control of Ukraine as soon as possible, because this is the only way to ensure the safe operation of the largest nuclear power plant in Europe,” concludes the Ukrainian company.