Ukraine’s Zaporizhzia’s nuclear plant ‘needs urgent protection’ as last power supply cut

‘Resumption of shelling is tremendously irresponsible,’ head of UN nuclear watchdog says

Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is in need of “urgent protection” after fresh rounds of Russian shelling destroyed its last external power source, the UN’s nuclear watchdog has warned.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said that the plant’s link to a 750-kilovolt line was cut at around 1 am Saturday. It cited official information from Ukraine as well as reports from IAEA experts at the site, which is held by Russian forces.

“The resumption of shelling, hitting the plant’s sole source of external power, is tremendously irresponsible. The Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant must be protected,” Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said today.

Ukraine nuclear plant ‘needs urgent protection’ the atomic watchdog says (AP)

Earlier on Saturday, Ukraine’s state nuclear company Energoatom said the plant was now getting power to cover its own needs from its backup diesel generators.

“The diesel generators started automatically. The available supplies of diesel fuel for their operation in this mode will be enough for 10 days,” the company wrote on Telegram.

According to the IAEA, six operators are “in cold shutdown” however, they still need electricity for vital nuclear safety and security functions.

Plant engineers have begun work to repair the damaged power line and the plant’s generators — not all of which are currently being used — each has sufficient fuel for at least 10 days, the IAEA said.

Six operators at the nuclear plant are “in cold shutdown” (AFP via Getty Images)

Zaporizhzhia is one of four regions that Russian president Vladimir Putin has annexed in violation of international laws.

While the nuclear plant has been under Russian control for months, the city of the same name remains under Ukrainian control. Putin signed a decree Wednesday declaring that Russia was taking over the plant.

Putin signed a decree in October saying the Russia was taking over the plant (AP)

Ukraine‘s foreign ministry called it a criminal act and said it considered Putin’s decree “null and void.”

It comes after Russian missiles hit a residential building in Zaporizhzhia on Thursday, killing at least three people while others lay in the rubble of their homes as they waited to be rescued by emergency services.