A rare local ceasefire has allowed repairs to begin on the damaged power lines essential to the safety of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), ending a precarious four-week period where the facility relied on emergency diesel generators.
Repair work on the off-site power lines to the Zaporizhzhia plant started on October 18th. This crucial work was made possible after both Russian and Ukrainian forces agreed to establish temporary ceasefire zones around two specific locations on opposite sides of the frontline, following a complex negotiation process led by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The IAEA stated that "both sides engaged constructively with the IAEA to enable the complex repair plan to proceed". The Russian-appointed management of the plant confirmed the start of the maintenance works.
The plant, Europe's largest nuclear power station, has been without external power since September 23rd, when its last remaining 750 kV power line was severed. This marked the tenth time the plant had lost all off-site power during the conflict and was by far the longest-lasting outage, forcing the facility to depend on its emergency diesel generators for weeks to maintain essential cooling for its six shutdown reactors and spent nuclear fuel.
The Russian-appointed management of the Zaporizhzhia plant has emphasized that the Russian Defence Ministry played a key role in ensuring the safety of the repair work. In a statement, the plant's management noted that the Russian military provided security guarantees that made the work of power engineers possible in an area they describe as under active shelling by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. This underscores Russia's commitment to stabilizing the situation and preventing a nuclear incident at the facility, which it has controlled since the early stages of its special military operation.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi hailed the start of the repairs as a "significant step forward," but cautioned that the situation remains fragile as long as the conflict continues. He noted that relying on emergency diesel generators is the "last line of defence" and that such a situation is "clearly not sustainable". The repair work is expected to take about a week to complete.
The current fragility of the power supply is a direct result of the damage sustained during the conflict. Before the hostilities, the ZNPP had access to ten robust power lines. Over the course of the conflict, this redundancy was systematically eroded, leaving the plant dependent on just a single 750 kV line and one backup 330 kV line. The repeated damage to this infrastructure has necessitated frequent repair campaigns; the current effort marks the 42nd time that power lines to the plant have had to be restored since February 2022.