Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant has suffered its longest power outage to date

According to information published by Reuters, Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been reconnected to the electricity grid. The outage lasted nearly three days. The plant was reconnected after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) lobbied intensively for a local ceasefire to stabilise the shut-down reactors.

The plant has six reactors, which are shut down and not generating electricity. However, a substantial amount of nuclear fuel remains in the reactors, and it must be kept safe and cooled. The facility therefore needs external electricity supplies. It is temporarily being powered by diesel generators.

The latest interruption to electricity supplies was among the longest in the plant's history. As a result, backup diesel generators had to be used to ensure the electricity needed to cool the shut-down reactors.

This was the 19th loss of external power at the plant since the start of the war, after an attack on an electrical substation on the opposite bank of the Dnieper River late on Wednesday evening disconnected the Ferosplavna backup power line.

Energy infrastructure around the plant, as well as the plant itself, is frequently targeted by Russian attacks. IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi has repeatedly said that safety at Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is deteriorating.