External power to Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant restored, says IAEA chief

By Burc Eruygur

ANKARA (AA) - External power to Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant has been restored, the director of the International Atomic Energy Agency said Wednesday, calming fears of a possible nuclear mishap.

“I've been informed by our team on site that external power to the Zaporizhzhia NPP is restored,” Rafael Grossi announced on Twitter.

The recent outage was caused by shelling damage to a sub-station, according to the operator, Grossi added.

To prevent similar incidents, “we need a protection zone as soon as possible,” he urged.

Earlier in the day, the plant lost all of its external power for the second time in five days.

Since the outage, the plant’s backup diesel generators provided electricity for its nuclear safety and security functions, Grossi said after the second outage.

Grossi underlined nuclear safety and security functions as vital for preventing possible accidents at the plant, which is now surrounded by Russian troops.

The plant, which has been under Russian control since March, early in Russia's war on Ukraine, was disconnected from the country’s power grid last Monday.

Since then, concerns have grown of a nuclear disaster between Moscow and Kyiv, both of which accuse each other of attacks on the nuclear facility.

Zaporizhzhia, one of the world’s 10 largest nuclear power plants, generated 20% of Ukraine’s electricity prior to the war.