The Zaporizhia NPP (ZNPP) has been using backup diesel generators for almost three weeks, Evgeniya Yashina, the plant's communications director, told RIA Novosti. "The station has been operating on backup diesel generators for the third week in a row. The units are working reliably, there is enough fuel, and the staff is monitoring all safety indicators around the clock. The situation is under constant and strict control," she said.
In the tenth and longest loss of off-site power suffered by ZNPP during the conflict, the plant lost connection to its last remaining 750 kilovolt line on 23 September, due to Ukrainian shelling. Emergency diesel generators are currently operating to provide back-up electricity to the site.
Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev told RIA Novosti that the construction of another backup power line for the ZNPP is currently impossible due to shelling and threats from Kiev. "Everything is under fire... And moreover, we know the statements of the Ukrainian side that they will not allow us to do this and will simply attack the builders." He was responding to a question about whether the issue of building a backup power line for the ZNPP, which would pass through Russian territory was being considered.
Earlier Likhachev had said he believed an external power supply could be restored to ZNPP by repairing the damaged line that runs through Ukrainian-held territory noting that negotiations are underway on this issue with the participation of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi.
Grossi said in a statement on 9 October that a process had been set in motion to help restore external electricity to the plant following frequent contacts with both sides in recent weeks.
"Since the ZNPP last month once again lost all access to the grid, Director General Grossi has been engaging with the Russian Federation and Ukraine on concrete proposals aimed at enabling the plant to receive the off-site power it needs to cool its six shutdown reactors and its spent fuel," IAEA said.
The focus has been on creating the necessary security conditions for repairs to be carried out on the damaged sections of the 750 kilovolt (kV) Dniprovska and the 330 kV Ferosplavna-1 power lines, located on opposite sides of the frontline near the ZNPP. Power from the Ferosplavna line has been lost since May.
"Following intensive consultations, the process leading to the re-establishment of off-site power - through the Dniprovska and Ferosplavna-1 lines - has started," Director General Grossi said. "While it will still take some time before the grid connection ... has been restored, the two sides have engaged with us in a constructive way to achieve this important objective for the sake of nuclear safety and security. No one stands to gain from a further deterioration in this regard."
IAEA said seven emergency generators were currently operating with another 13 are on standby. The plant continues to alternate them to produce the electricity it requires, including also for the reactor safety systems. Based on regularly received nuclear safety data, the IAEA team at the site continues to confirm that there has been no temperature increase within the coolant in the reactors or the used fuel pools - indicating that the fuel continues to be cooled effectively.
Earlier, the IAEA team at the plant conducted a walkdown to observe the status of the generators that were in standby mode at the time. The team also confirmed that the essential service sprinkler ponds - which provide cooling to the reactors and the spent fuel pools - were operating as usual. Radiation levels at the site also remain normal, the team reported.