UN nuclear watchdog says Zaporizhzhya plant loses off-site power for 24th time during conflict

Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) briefly lost its off-site power supply on Tuesday for the 24th time since the start of the conflict, highlighting the growing fragility of the facility’s connection to the electricity grid, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said.

In a post on the US social media company X, the UN nuclear watchdog said the plant’s emergency diesel generators automatically provided backup electricity after its connection to its only remaining external power line, Ferosplavna-1, was lost during the afternoon.

“Although very short, the latest external power outage once again underlined the ZNPP’s increasingly fragile connection to the grid, with half of all loss of power events occurring since mid-April,” IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said.

The IAEA said the cause of Tuesday’s disconnection was not yet known.