BREAKING: Europe’s largest nuclear power plant Zaporizhzhia completely shut down

AT 3.41 am on Sunday, September 11 (local time), power unit No. 6 of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), Europe’s largest, was disconnected from the power grid and preparations are currently underway for its cooling and transfer to a cold state.

For the past three days, the 6th power unit had been operating in an “island mode”, feeding only its own needs of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, according to Enerhoatom.

It had been feeding ZNPP at a critically low power level (from 114 to 140 MW) since all communication lines with the Ukrainian power system had been damaged due to Russian shelling.

On Saturday, September 10, after one of these communication lines was restored to working order, the power supply of the ZNPP’s own needs became possible from the energy system of Ukraine.

“Therefore, a decision was made to shut down power unit No. 6 and transfer it to the safest state – cold shutdown,” Enerhoatom said.

“In the event of repeated damage to the lines of communication with the power system, the risk of which remains high, the ZNPP’s own needs will be powered by diesel generators, the duration of which is limited by the technical resource and the amount of available diesel fuel,” it said.

It added: “NAEC ‘Energoatom’ takes all possible measures to organise the supply of additional batches of diesel fuel to the ZNPP.

“In order to prevent an emergency situation at the station, it is necessary to stop the racist shelling of the lines connecting the ZANP with the power system and create a demilitarized zone around it. After that, the communication line will be able to be repaired, to ensure the inclusion and further safe operation of the ZNPP.”

On Friday, September 9, it was reported by Rafael Grossi, the Director-General of the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, that shelling had allegedly caused a total blackout at the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine.