During the night of May 28–29, the temporarily occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant once again lost external power supply, causing it to enter blackout mode, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported on Friday.
"For the 16th time during the military conflict, the Zaporizhzhya NPP temporarily lost all off-site power overnight," the agency stated, citing Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi on the social network X.
According to the IAEA, emergency diesel generators were activated to provide power to the most critical safety systems during the one-hour outage, after which the plant was reconnected to the single remaining power transmission line.
"Cause not yet known, but incident underlines that nuclear safety remains precarious," Grossi emphasised.
The Zaporizhzhia NPP is currently receiving external power through only one transmission line, following the disconnection of the main line back in March.
Prior to the full-scale war, the facility was connected to 10 lines.
The IAEA is continuing consultations with Ukraine and Russia regarding a temporary ceasefire in the area around the plant to carry out repairs to the 750 kV transmission line. However, the difficult situation near the front line is significantly complicating both the repair work and the negotiation process.
