UPDATE: France’s President Macron calls for action after Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant loses last connection

FRANCE’S President Emmanuel Macron has called for action at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant (ZNPP) after it lost its last connection on Monday, September 5.

UPDATE 4.47 pm (September 5) – French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky held talks about the situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant after it lost its last connection.

Mr Macron said: “We returned to the situation at the Zaporizhzhia NPP and the mission of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which is stationed there.

“Preservation of the safety of nuclear installations can only take place through the withdrawal of Russian troops.”

Macron called for the Ukrainian sovereignty over the plant to be respected.

The President of France also reiterated his country’s full support for Ukraine to be restored to its most fundamental rights, starting with its sovereignty, security and territorial integrity.

He said that he was determined to “counter the fracturing of the world in the face of the consequences of the war and under the effect of Russia’s manipulation of information, and to continue to warn of the threat to the stability of the world that all relativism constitutes with regard to respect for the elementary norms of international law.”

ORIGINAL 3.22 pm (September 5) – Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant has lost its last connection, which also supplied the plant’s own needs, to Ukraine’s power grid, as per a statement from Energoatom on Monday, September 5.

Energoatom has announced that the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant has lost its last connection.

“On Monday, September 5, 2022, due to a fire caused by shelling, the 330 kV ZTPP – Ferosplavna power transmission line was disconnected, that is the last line linking the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) hub to the power system of Ukraine”, Energoatom said.

“As a result, power unit No. 6, currently powering the ZNPP’s in-house needs, was unloaded and disconnected from the grid.”

Earlier, as a result, the 750 kV ZNPP – Dniprovska, 330 kV ZTPP – Kakhovska and 330 kV ZTPP – Melitopol power transmission lines were damaged and disconnected. The ZNPP 750/330 kV autotransformer (AT) was also damaged.

Other lines of the ZNPP/ZTPP hub were damaged even earlier, according to Energoatom.

The Minister of Energy of Ukraine Herman Galushchenko reacted to the damage to the last power transmission line and the subsequent disconnection from the network of power unit No. 6 of the Zaporizhzhia NPP.

“The last line that connected it to the energy system of Ukraine – the 330 kV transmission line ZaTES – Ferosplavna – was disconnected due to a fire that occurred as a result of shelling,” he wrote on Facebook.

He noted that any repair work on the lines is currently impossible because fighting is going on around the station.

“The world is once again on the brink of a nuclear disaster. The de-occupation of the ZNPP and the creation of a demilitarized zone around it is the only way to ensure nuclear safety,” Galushchenko added.

As reported earlier, the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) in Ukraine, was reportedly operating at risk of violating radiation and fire safety standards.

The company said: “Currently, only Unit 6 remains in operation, supplying electricity to the Ukrainian power grid and supplying the Zaporizka NPP’s own consumers. The equipment and safety systems do not have any problems at this time.”

“We should note that on the evening of September 3, following extensive shelling by the Russian occupants, the contact line with the Ukrainian energy system was damaged. As a result, at 19:35 UTC Zaporizka NPP Unit 5 was disconnected from the electricity grid.”

The news followed a decision to establish a 10km demilitarised zone outside of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant comes after days of rising tensions with Russian forces, as reported on Friday, September 2.

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