The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) maintains its position that restarting the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) is impossible under current circumstances due to the lack of safe operating conditions.
IAEA spokesperson Fredrik Dahl said this in a comment to Ukrinform.
According to Dahl, the agency is aware of reports that Russia is constructing a power line toward the plant but stated that the IAEA has no “additional information or comment to share.”
Commenting on the agency’s stance regarding a possible restart of the Russian-occupied nuclear plant, Dahl referred to the latest report by Director General Rafael Grossi on nuclear safety and security in Ukraine, submitted to the IAEA Board of Governors on February 27. The report stated that “no reactor is to be restarted as long as the nuclear safety and security situation at the ZNPP remains in jeopardy due to the conflict.”
“The same report said that all six reactor units remained in cold shutdown and that the ZNPP had informed the Agency that there were no plans to place any reactor unit in hot shutdown. There has been no change in this regard since that report was issued three months ago. Any re-start of the plant would require extensive preparations to ensure nuclear safety and security,” Dahl added.
On May 27, Greenpeace stated that the Russian occupation administration had begun building a new high-voltage transmission line in the temporarily occupied territories of the Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk regions. This line, running along the northern coast of the Sea of Azov, would directly connect the occupied ZNPP to Russia’s power grid and could be used to facilitate a restart.
Ukraine’s Permanent Mission to International Organizations in Vienna sent a diplomatic note to the IAEA Secretariat condemning Russia’s apparent intent to link the occupied ZNPP to its energy system and unilaterally resume operations. The note emphasized that any restart of the plant without approval from Ukraine’s nuclear regulator is illegal and poses an immediate and unacceptable threat to nuclear safety.
Photo: Kostiantyn Liberov
Source: Restart of Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant impossible due to unsafe conditions – IAEA
