Russia and Ukraine agree temporary ceasefire to enable repairs to Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant

Russia and Ukraine have agreed to observe a temporary ceasefire around the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) in southeastern Ukraine to allow for repair work to be completed on one of the plant’s backup power lines, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced on Friday.

The six-reactor plant, Europe’s largest, has been relying on a single power cable since its primary backup power line was damaged and disconnected as a result of military activity on 2 January, the IAEA said. 

Technicians from Ukraine’s power grid operator Ukrenergo are expected to begin repair work on the 330kV backup line in the coming days under the supervision of IAEA representatives, the agency said. 

“The IAEA continues to work closely with both sides to ensure nuclear safety at the ZNPP and to prevent a nuclear accident during the conflict,” IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said on Friday. “This temporary ceasefire, the fourth we have negotiated, demonstrates the indispensable role that we continue to play.”

The plant, which has not produced electricity since September 2022, had its 330kV backupline reconnected last November, giving the plant two external power sources for the first time in nearly six months.

From September to October, the plant spent nearly a month operating on diesel generators — the longest known period of any nuclear plant ever — after it was disconnected from mains power, raising fears of a reactor meltdown in the event of a potential cooling system failure. 

At the time, regional watchdogs warned that the Russian troops occupying the plant were trying to connect the facility to Russia’s electricity grid and restart production.

“They occupied it, and they believe that we cannot do much to prevent them from resuming its operation,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters in late December. “They will link the operation of this plant to humanitarian considerations, to the fact that there are people in the temporarily occupied territories who have no water and no electricity.”

Prior to the war, the plant provided around 25% of Ukraine’s domestically produced electricity, and Ukrainian officials have repeatedly made the case that the plant would be vital to any Ukrainian economic recovery once the war is over, The New York Times reported in early January.