Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant remains without external power for over a week

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine has been without off-site electricity for more than a week, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. The plant is relying on emergency diesel generators to keep its six non-operating reactors cool. The agency said the situation remains unstable as repairs to damaged electrical lines are still being negotiated.

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The Vienna-based watchdog said the plant has only about 10 days of diesel fuel on site, although it was supplied with diesel on Thursday and Friday from another off-site location. Its director general, Rafael Grossi, said diesel availability is of paramount importance whenever a nuclear power plant loses external power. Ukrainian official Gyunduz Mamedov said on social media that this is the 27th blackout at the plant since Russia's full-scale invasion began.

Zaporizhzhia is Europe's largest nuclear power plant and has not generated electricity since September 2022. It has been occupied by Russian forces since 2022, and the IAEA has maintained a permanent presence at the site since that year. The plant sits on the banks of the Dnipro River near the front line, where both sides regularly accuse each other of attacks around the facility.

The agency said there had also been three drone-related incidents at the plant this week, injuring two employees. The loss of external power matters because the reactors, although not operating, still need cooling to prevent overheating of nuclear fuel. That makes the plant dependent on backup systems and fuel deliveries, both of which are vulnerable during wartime.

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The repeated blackouts also underline the continuing risk to nuclear safety in a conflict zone, where infrastructure damage can quickly become an international concern. The plant has been one of the most closely watched nuclear sites in the world since the war began. The current outage comes after a series of incidents at the site since Russia took control of the facility in March 2022.

The IAEA said earlier this month that a drone strike near the plant killed one nuclear specialist and wounded 17 people, though it did not assign responsibility. Ukrainian officials have repeatedly described Russian actions around the plant as nuclear blackmail, while Moscow has blamed Kyiv for attacks in the area. The agency has said it is trying to negotiate a local ceasefire so repairs to the power lines can take place.

What remains unclear is how long the diesel supply will last and when external power can be restored. It is also not clear who is responsible for the latest damage to the electrical lines or the drone incidents reported this week. The next developments to watch are whether a local ceasefire can be agreed and whether repair crews can safely reach the damaged infrastructure.

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