IAEA says local ceasefire agreed around Zaporizhzhia plant for repairs

The International Atomic Energy Agency says a localised ceasefire has taken effect around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine to allow urgent repair work. The plant, Europe's largest, has been at the centre of nuclear-safety concerns throughout Russia's war on Ukraine. The agency said technicians from both sides are expected to begin repairs in the coming days.

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According to the agency, the pause in fighting began on Friday morning. It is intended to make it possible to repair the Dniprovska power line, which has been damaged in the conflict. The agency said Moscow and Kyiv agreed to the arrangement for the sake of nuclear safety.

It also said this is the sixth temporary ceasefire negotiated by its director general, Rafael Grossi, since the war began in 2022. The plant has been disconnected from the Dniprovska line for more than two months, leaving it dependent on a single line to provide the electricity needed to cool its six shutdown reactors. In recent weeks, the site has repeatedly lost access to that line and has had to rely on emergency diesel generators.

That has added to concern about the risk of a nuclear incident if power supplies are interrupted again. The development matters because the plant remains one of the most sensitive sites in the war. The front line runs across the eastern Zaporizhzhia region, where ground fighting, drone attacks and artillery exchanges have continued.

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Any disruption to power at the facility can quickly become a wider safety issue, given the need to keep reactor systems stable even while the reactors are shut down. The ceasefire also comes against a backdrop of repeated attempts to reduce risk at the site without ending the wider conflict. The IAEA has played a central role in those efforts, with Grossi repeatedly seeking temporary pauses to enable repairs and inspections.

The latest arrangement appears focused on restoring a more secure electricity supply rather than changing the military situation around the plant. What remains unclear is how durable the pause will be and whether repair crews will be able to work without interruption. The agency said the technicians are due to start in the coming days, but it did not give a precise timetable for completion.

The key issue to watch is whether the Dniprovska line can be restored and whether the plant can avoid further reliance on emergency generators.

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