Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is the largest in Europe, has been forced to "completely shut down" amid threats to safety as a result of fighting and shelling in the vicinity.
Authorities shut down the nuclear power plant's last operating reactor after a transmission line linking the plant to Ukraine's power system was restored, said Energoatom on Sunday. The agency said that "arrangements for its cooling and transfer to a cold state are underway."
Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant
Ukraine's nuclear agency said that one of the transmission lines was restored to its operational capacity on Sunday that made it possible to power the plant from Ukraine's energy system and shut down the number 6 power unit and transfer it to the "safest state - cold shutdown."
Authorities said that the reactor was disconnected from the Ukrainian grid last week and was operating in an "island mode," generating electricity and using its own energy to power its cooling systems. Last week, a report from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) called for the "immediate establishment of a nuclear safety and security zone" around the plant, as per CNN.
The highly anticipated report came a few days after IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi led an expert mission to the nuclear power plant. It was the first independent look at the condition of the facility since Russia took control of it at the beginning of its invasion of Ukraine.
Ukraine's capital city of Kyiv on Wednesday urged residents of Russian-occupied areas around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to evacuate the area for safety reasons. Russia and Ukraine have exchanged accusations of responsibility for putting the plant at risk.
According to Fox News, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in a statement, requested that the surrounding area of the plant be demilitarized to prevent a nuclear disaster. Despite Energoatom restoring a communications line to the power system to operational capacity on Saturday, it said that the risk of the line enduring further damage "remains high."
Shutting Down The Plant
The situation comes after fighting near the plant fueled fears of a disaster similar to the one at Chernobyl in 1986. At the time, a reactor exploded and spewed deadly radiation, contaminating a vast area in the world's worst nuclear catastrophe.
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been cut off from the power grid twice due to shelling hitting power lines and some auxiliary equipment. While the plant's reactors were protected by a reinforced shelter that could withstand an errant shell or rocket, a disruption in the electrical supply could knock out cooling systems essential for the reactors' safety.
On Sept. 5, a fire caused by shelling resulted in the power plant being knocked off transmission lines. At the time, only one reactor remained operational to power cooling systems and other crucial equipment.
While the island mode supplies power for the residual heat removal of the reactor cores and the spent fuel pools, experts argued that it was very unreliable. They pointed out that if the diesel generators fail, a core meltdown could occur within a few hours, the Associated Press reported.
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