(MENAFN- Gulf Times) The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced the start of a complex plan to restore power to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP) in southern Ukraine after an unprecedented outage lasting nearly four weeks. This comes amid a local ceasefire that has allowed repair work to begin.

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said on X platform, "Work has begun to repair damaged off-site power lines to ZNPP after a 4-week outage, following the establishment of local ceasefire zones to allow work to proceed. Restoration of off-site power is crucial for nuclear safety and security."

Grossi explained that the repair work includes two cables of the 330 kilovolts (kV), which have been disconnected since May 7. Repairs are also due to begin on the damaged section of the 750 kV Dniprovska line, which was disconnected on September 23, causing the ZNPP's complete loss of off-site power.

The IAEA reported that the repair work is expected to take about a week, noting that the power plant has been relying on seven emergency diesel generators for four weeks to power the cooling systems necessary to prevent the six shut-down reactors from overheating.

Radioactivity levels in the area remain normal, and cooling systems are operating effectively.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Energy reported that its experts are monitoring the situation on the ground, and considered the reconnection of the plant to the Ukrainian grid an essential step to ensuring stability and preventing any nuclear accident.

The Russian plant's management also confirmed that the Russian Ministry of Defense is overseeing the safety of the repair teams during the plan's implementation, in coordination with the IAEA monitors deployed at the site.

The ZNPP, located near the city of Enerhodar on the banks of the Dnieper River, is the largest nuclear facility in Europe and, before the war, provided about a fifth of Ukraine's electricity needs.

The plant has been under Russian control since March 2022 and has since experienced 10 complete grid outages, raising repeated international concerns about the risk of a major nuclear accident.

IAEA ZNPP nuclear power plant

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