KYIV, May 29 – The Russian-occupied Zaporizhia NPP, a 6-GW nuclear power plant, has been on a single 750 kV power line since May 7 after the last backup 330 kV line was damaged, and it is unclear when it will be restored, although previously external power supplies were restored within a day, said Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

"The off-site power situation at Ukraine’s Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) remains extremely fragile, with Europe’s largest such site currently relying on just one single power line for essential nuclear safety and security functions compared with ten before the military conflict," the IAEA's Ukraine update said, citing Grossi.

The IAEA said its team at the ZNPP had not identified any nuclear safety issues as a result of a nuclear safety monitoring visit conducted last week, which included a walk-through to measure and confirm stable cooling water levels in the facility’s 12 sprinkler pools and a visit to two fresh fuel storage facilities. However, for most of last week, IAEA officials heard sounds of military activity at varying distances from the ZNPP.

According to the IAEA, three of the nine reactors at the three operating Ukrainian nuclear power plants – Khmelnytsky, Rivne and Yuzhnoukrainsk – are in scheduled shutdown mode for refueling and maintenance. (om/ez)