Zelenskyy
sounds alarm over unprecedented power outage at Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant
Ukrainian
president says Russian shelling is preventing work to restore links to grid and
that one of the plant’s diesel generators has failed
Agencies
Wed 1 Oct
2025 01.37 BST
Ukrainian
president Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday said the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia
nuclear plant has been off the grid for seven straight days, warning of the
potential threat of a “critical” situation.
It is the
longest outage at Zaporizhzhia since Russia invaded and seized the nuclear
plant, Europe’s largest.
Zelenskyy
said Russian shelling was preventing restoration of a power line needed to cool
the reactors and prevent a meltdown.
The head
of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN nuclear watchdog, said
it was working with both sides to restore the external power line. Rafael
Grossi said there was no immediate danger as long as diesel generators remained
in operation, providing emergency power for the facility.
Zelenskyy,
speaking in his nightly video address, said one of the diesel generators
providing emergency power was no longer working, seven days after external
power lines went down.
“This is
the seventh day. There has never before been such an emergency situation at the
Zaporizhzhia plant. The situation is critical. Russian shelling has cut the
plant off from the electricity network,” Zelenskyy said.
The
Zaporizhzhia plant, Europe’s largest with six reactors, was seized by Russian
troops in the first weeks of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine and each side
regularly accuses the other of attacks that endanger nuclear safety. Located
near the city of Enerhodar along the Dnipro river, the power plant is close to
the frontline.
It
produces no electricity at the moment, but needs power to ensure fuel in the
reactors remains cool and no meltdown occurs. It was the 10th occasion since
the start of the conflict that the plant has been disconnected from the power
grid.
Zelenskyy
said: “This is a threat to everyone. No terrorist in the world has ever dared
to do with a nuclear power plant what Russia is doing now. And it is right that
the world not remain silent.”
Grossi,
in a statement issued late on Tuesday, said he was “in constant contact with
the two sides with the aim to enable the plant’s swift reconnection to the
electricity grid.”
“While
the plant is currently coping thanks to its emergency diesel generators – the
last line of defence – and there is no immediate danger as long as they keep
working, it is clearly not a sustainable situation in terms of nuclear safety,”
he said.
“Neither
side would benefit from a nuclear accident.”
Grossi
said both sides noted military activity had prevented them from carrying out
necessary repairs. He said the plant was operating eight diesel generators,
with nine units in standby mode and three in maintenance.
“I
strongly encourage both sides to work with us and enable these essential
repairs to take place,” he said.
Russian
officials have not commented on the latest statements on conditions at the
plant.
Grossi
has repeatedly called on both sides to uphold nuclear safety. IAEA monitors are
stationed permanently at Zaporizhzhia and at Ukraine’s three other nuclear
power stations.
With
Reuters and Agence France-Presse
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