On November 15, Ukraine’s Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) lost all access to the electricity grid due to military attacks in the country, forcing it to temporarily rely on diesel generators for back-up power. The relevant statement was made by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi.
“This was a very concerning development. It shows the potential nuclear safety and security risks facing all of Ukraine’s nuclear facilities during this terrible war, not just the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant. While off-site power is now back at the Khmelnytskyy Nuclear Power Plant, yesterday’s power loss clearly demonstrates that the nuclear safety and security situation in Ukraine can suddenly take a turn for the worse, increasing the risk of a nuclear emergency,” Grossi said.
According to the data from the Ukrainian side, Khmelnytskyi NPP’s grid connection was completely lost at 06:35 p.m. (local time) on November 15, after the site’s four operating power lines were progressively lost over a two-and-a-half-hour period because of missile attacks on the country’s energy infrastructure. During this period, the plant’s two reactors were shut down, halting their delivery of electricity to households, factories and others.
More than nine hours later – at 03:45 a.m. – the plant regained off-site electricity through two 330 kilovolt (kV) back-up power lines, and the diesel generators were stopped. One of those lines was again lost about an hour later and only restored at 11:25 a.m. The two reactor units remain in shutdown mode. (Ukrinform/Business World Magazine)