IAEA says 'window of silence' helps restore critical power line to Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant
Repair works near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (Photo: x.com / IAEA)
An important power transmission line near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) has been successfully repaired. The work was carried out under security guarantees in line with a localized ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, according to IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi.
According to the statement, this marked the third time in recent months that temporary ceasefire arrangements have made it possible to restore power lines damaged during hostilities.
In late October, a similar “window of silence” helped end the tenth - and longest - complete loss of off-site power supply to the ZNPP.
This time, it made it possible to restore electricity transmission between the ZNPP’s distribution substations and the neighboring Zaporizhzhia Thermal Power Plant, two weeks after the link was cut due to military action.
The connection is critical, the IAEA said, as it provides a key route for electricity supplied by one of the ZNPP’s two remaining power lines - the 330-kilovolt (kV) line.
Repair work began on Sunday morning and was completed by Monday afternoon, after the damaged power line and a separate issue with an autotransformer at the ZNPP distribution substation were fully fixed and restored.
Rafael Grossi thanked Ukraine and Russia for agreeing to the localized ceasefire, but warned that the overall situation at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant and at other nuclear facilities across Ukraine remains unstable.
Localized ceasefire
On December 28, Ukraine and Russia agreed to a localized ceasefire near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. This made it possible to begin repair work on a power transmission line close to the ZNPP.
Earlier reports said that on November 19, Ukraine managed to restore power supply to the Russian-occupied ZNPP after a line was damaged by Russian attacks. Before that, the plant had fully lost external power ten times.
However, on December 6, the ZNPP once again lost off-site power supply.
