IAEA says ZNPP weighs further cut in standby emergency diesel generators
Off-site power lost 10 times since June; a single 330 kV line, Ferosplavna-1, now feeds the site.
Key facts
- Diesel reserves low after plant ran on generators nearly three weeks in August and September
- 750 kV switchyard maintenance delayed September 29 by security situation; EDG work also late
- Drone strike hit Kyiv nuclear research institute 100 metres from reactor building; no release
- South Ukraine NPP detected 27 drones in past week; Chornobyl 83, Khmelnytskyy 2
- Grossi calls on all sides to work with IAEA to deliver diesel fuel
The Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) is considering a further reduction in the number of emergency diesel generators (EDGs) kept in automatic standby, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said on October 2, as diesel fuel supplies at the site remain a concern.
Diesel reserves remain low after an extended loss of off-site power in August and September, when the ZNPP relied on EDGs for nearly three weeks, the IAEA said. Efforts to replenish them have been hampered by military activity in the area. EDGs provide backup power for essential safety systems when external power is unavailable; the ZNPP has lost off-site power 10 times since June and currently relies on a single line, the 330 kV Ferosplavna-1.
On September 29 the IAEA team at the ZNPP was informed that planned maintenance of electrical equipment in the 750kV switchyard had been delayed due to the security situation. Maintenance of an EDG was also delayed because contractors arrived late. On September 30 the IAEA was informed of repair work required at the Zaporizhzhya Thermal Power Plant to increase the robustness of the power supply to the ZNPP. The IAEA said it is working with the Russian Federation and Ukraine on a ceasefire that should allow the maintenance work to be carried out.
The IAEA team at the ZNPP continued to hear military activity every day over the past week, often close to the site. A drone struck the Institute for Nuclear Research of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in Kyiv on September 30, 100 meters from a facility housing a research reactor and spent nuclear fuel, the IAEA was informed. No radioactive material was released. Grossi reiterated that nuclear facilities must never be attacked.
Over the past week, the South Ukraine NPP detected 27 drones in its monitoring area, the Chornobyl site 83 and the Khmelnytskyy NPP 2, the IAEA said. The sites reported 157 air raid alerts in total. IAEA teams at the Rivne and Khmelnytskyy NPPs sheltered on multiple occasions.
