International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) experts present at the Zaporizhia NPP (ZNPP) were again forced to shelter after missile attack warnings, with the sound of continued shelling in the distance as military activity continues in the region. In addition, one landmine exploded near the site, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said.

 

Nevertheless, the eighth IAEA Support & Assistance Mission to Zaporizhia (ISAMZ) crossed the front line to rotate with the previous team. The IAEA has maintained its continued presence at ZNPP for almost eight months to assess the nuclear safety and security situation at ZNPP.

 

IAEA said the team continued to monitor the complex and challenging staffing situation at the plant. The current plant management has told the team that the total number of staff with Rosatom contracts is now slightly above 3,000, with another 1,000 in the process of approval. Roughly 1,000 staff with Ukrainian Energoatom contracts still work at the plant, and others who remain in the operators’ town of Enerhodar are occasionally called to work.

 

The plant management has confirmed that some staff have had their access blocked, claiming it is for “security purposes”. IAEA said its team will continue its work to get a better understanding of the staffing situation. Grossi has repeatedly expressed deep concern about the extremely difficult situation for ZNPP staff and their families, and the effect it has on nuclear safety and security.

 

Separately, ZNPP continues to rely on the only remaining functioning 750 kilovolt (kV) power line for off-site power. The back-up 330 kV power line that was damaged on 1 March remains disconnected. The ISAMZ team has been informed that the latest plan is for the line to be reconnected shortly. However, it should be noted that a number of previously scheduled dates for its reconnection have not been met over the past two months.

 

The ISAMZ team is monitoring the actions taken for restoring other sources of off-site power but has not had access to the nearby Zaporizhia Thermal Power Plant (ZTPP). The ZTPP operates a 330 kV open switchyard, through which back-up power has in the past been provided to the ZNPP.

 

During its last visit to the ZTPP open switchyard in December 2022, the ISAMZ Team observed significant damage due to shelling. Since that time, ISAMZ teams have requested to visit the site to assess progress in removing the damaged components and restoring operation of other off-site power lines to ZNPP, as was previously reported by the Russian Federation. Two weeks ago the team was informed that access would be granted in the coming days. It is important that ISAMZ gets the necessary access to the ZTPP open switchyard given the implications on nuclear safety and security at ZNPP.

 

The Team observed, and following questions were subsequently informed, that a large piece of equipment being transported into the turbine hall of unit 3 was a transformer to replace the damaged “Kakhovka” node in the ZNPP open switchyard. The Kakhovka line is one of the four 750 kV lines that were operational before the military conflict. This line is linked to the currently Russian-controlled electrical grid, to the south of the ZNPP site.

 

In addition, the ISAMZ team reported that the reactor at unit 6 at ZNPP reached cold shutdown state after which a test was conducted to assess the integrity of the cladding on the nuclear fuel. The results demonstrated that the fuel cladding was intact. The transition to cold shutdown will enable ZNPP to perform inspections on the primary and secondary cooling circuits and pumps. Unit 5 remains in hot shutdown to provide steam for the site, such as for the treatment of wastewater.

 

Meanwhile, the Adviser to the General Director of Rosenergoatom, Renat Karchaa, said the windows in the turbine hall of ZNPP unit 4 had been repaired after an attack by Ukrainian drones. "The windows were repaired: they were covered some with glass, and some with chipboard," he said.

 

Karchaa also noted that ZNPP will be fully transferred to the standards of operation of the Russian Federation by 2030. Since Russia took control of ZNPP in March 2022, the Russian national guard has been protecting the station and in October, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree formally transferring ZNPP to Russian jurisdiction under nuclear utility Rosenergoatom (part of Rosatom). A Russian Federal State Unitary Enterprise. Zaporizhia NPP was established by Rosenergoatom to operate the plant.