World

Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant Back on Generators After External Power Loss

By Reuters

The Russian‑controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine has lost its off‑site electricity supply and is again relying on backup generators to cool its reactors, the plant’s management and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Sunday, November 8, 2026. Zaporizhzhia, which does not generate electricity but requires power from two external links to keep nuclear fuel cool, lost its off‑site supply after the Ferosplavna power line was disconnected, the IAEA posted on X. The agency said the cause and location of the latest disconnection were not yet known and added that the plant has enough fuel reserves to run a limited number of emergency diesel generators for about two weeks. The IAEA had previously reported on October 23 that the main Dniprovska power line remained unavailable. In early September, a local ceasefire brokered by the IAEA allowed repairs to restore external power to Zaporizhzhia, which had been without it since August 20. Russia seized the plant, Europe's largest with six reactors, in the first weeks of the war that began with Moscow’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Moscow and Kyiv have since repeatedly accused each other of military actions that threaten nuclear safety. The plant’s Russian‑installed management said the Ferosplavna line had been shut down by “automatic protection” and that radiation levels on the site and in the surveillance zone were normal. “Staff at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant are monitoring all operational parameters of the equipment. All necessary measures to maintain the safe condition of the power units are being taken in full,” the management said in a statement posted on the MAX messenger app.