Hey there, news enthusiasts! 👋 Big news from Europe that's got the world's attention. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has raised the alarm 🚨 about nuclear safety at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) in Ukraine.
So, what's the buzz? 🐝 The ZNPP, one of the largest nuclear power plants in the world, recently lost connection to its only remaining 750 kilovolt (kV) power line—not just once, but twice in the last few days! 😱
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi shared at a meeting on Thursday that the first outage happened last Saturday morning due to some mysterious damage about 17 km from the plant. The ZNPP was left in the dark for over 30 hours before the line was fixed by Sunday noon. But hold up—it happened again on Thursday morning! ⚠️
During these outages, the plant had to rely on its sole 330 kV backup power line to keep critical systems like reactor cooling running smoothly. Talk about living on the edge! 😬 Before the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the ZNPP had a network of four 750 kV and six 330 kV lines. Now, it's down to just one of each. Yikes!
This situation has experts worried since stable power is crucial for nuclear safety. Let's hope they get those lines back up ASAP! 🙏
Reference(s):
Nuclear safety still 'in jeopardy' at Zaporizhzhia power plant: IAEA
cgtn.com
