External power supply to ZNPP has been disconnected for more than three days. There is a risk of repeating the Fukushima scenario

External power supply Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant, which is under Russian occupation, has been disconnected for more than three days, which is considered critically dangerous. About this writes The Guardian, citing the IAEA's findings.

This is a record-breaking outage that has raised serious concerns about the safety of six power units located on the frontline of the war in Ukraine.

After disconnecting the last power line on Tuesday, September 23, at 16:56, on the Russian side, the plant was powered only by emergency diesel generators for cooling and security systems. So far, there are no signs of a quick restoration of power supply.

Director General of the IAEA Raphael Grossi called the situation "extremely disturbing." He met with the President of Russia Vladimir Putin on Thursday, September 25, but the problem remained.

According to Ukrainian sources, European safety tests show that a nuclear power plant can operate without external power for up to 72 hours. Beyond that time, the consequences have not been tested in practice.

For comparison, after the earthquake and tsunami at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan in 2011, emergency generators failed, causing three reactors to melt down in less than three days.

The IAEA reported that the generators have enough fuel to operate for up to 20 days. However, Grossi warned that the loss of external power "increases the likelihood of a nuclear accident."

Seven out of 18 generators are operating at the plant, but their failure could lead to overheating of nuclear fuel in six reactors, potentially causing a meltdown within weeks.

According to Greenpeace, Russia lays a new power supply line for ZNPP through the occupied territories to resolve the crisis and show himself as a "savior."

Satellite imagery shows a 200 km line being laid from the Russian grid through Mariupol, as well as the construction of a dam to create a safe water reservoir. This could allow Russia to start at least one reactor to claim that it alone can operate the plant.

Greenpeace expert Sean Burney called on the IAEA to immediately intervene and warn Russia against launching the reactor, emphasizing that only the occupiers are responsible for the security crisis.

• On June 6, the Russians directly stated that Rosatom already has a plan for the phased commissioning of ZNPP and has begun to build floating pumping station for reactor cooling.
• On June 12, 48 countries at a meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors issued a joint statement in which categorically rejected any attempts to restart reactors under occupation.