Power restored to Chernobyl nuclear power station

Europe, News March 14, 2022 , by IRIA No Comments

Ukraine’s Minister of Energy German Galushchenko said on March 13 that the national power grid company successfully restored the connection at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

Director General of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Mariano Grossi said “This is a positive development as the Chornobyl NPP [nuclear power plant] has had to rely on emergency diesel generators for several days now.”

According to the IAEA press release on March 13, “The Director General received the news from the head of Ukraine’s nuclear power company Energoatom, Petro Kotin, who told him that the specialists had fixed one of two damaged lines and would now be able to deliver all required off-site power to the NPP, where various radioactive waste management facilities are located following the 1986 accident.”

“Ukraine’s regulator separately informed the IAEA that the power supply line was restored at 18:38 CET by the repair personnel of Ukrenergo, the country’s transmission system operator. The Chornobyl NPP continues to work on back-up diesel generators and will be reconnected to the Ukrainian electricity grid in the morning,” the statement added.

The Chernobyl nuclear plant was disconnected from the power grid on March 9 after a power line was damaged, which led to concerns that the cooling of the radioactive material could be disrupted.

*^{Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, in Chernobyl, Ukraine in April 2021. (Image Credit: Efrem Lukatsky/AP)}*

The IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi urged both sides for “maximum restraint” and to avoid actions that could put the nuclear facilities at risk.

However, after meeting with the foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine in Turkey on March 10, the IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said: “We had good meetings, not easy ones, but serious meetings. Both sides agree that something needs to be done. They are both ready to work and to engage with the IAEA.”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba agreed to work with the United Nations atomic agency, IAEA, in order to ensure nuclear safety in Ukraine.

Earlier, the Ukrainian president’s advisor Mykhailo Podolyak said Russia took control of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant on February 24, after a “fierce” battle between the Russian and Ukrainian forces.

Ukraine has four active nuclear power plants and nuclear waste storage facilities, including Chernobyl. The country depends on nuclear power plants for about half of its electricity.