ZNPP resumption after de-occupation may take years — Energy Minister

Svitlana Hrynchuk said that the resumption of ZNPP operations after the de-occupation could take years. Photo: Ministry of Environment

It will take several years to restore the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant after liberation from Russian occupation.

This was stated by Energy Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk during the presentation of the new government's action plan, hromadske reports.

She stressed that the situation around ZNPP remains extremely dangerous. At the same time, according to Ukrainian specialists and IAEA experts, Russia does not have the capacity to connect the plant to its own power grid.

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After the de-occupation, international experts led by the IAEA will have to assess the condition of the facility first.

«We don't know what the Russians did there, what they damaged. This is a nuclear facility — you can't just launch it. We need to assess the technical situation at the plant, and I think it will take a long time,» said Svitlana Hrynchuk.

According to her, the resumption of operation of the units will require long-term technical solutions, as well as resolving the issue of water supply. «This is a long process, it will take years», the minister concluded.

As a reminder, specialists of Ukrenergo have restored the operation of the high-voltage line that supplies the temporarily occupied Zaporizhzhia NPP. ZNPP was switched to generator power due to an emergency shutdown, which is a last resort to maintain critical safety systems.

As a reminder, this happened on 4 July due to a Russian strike on the power line connecting the temporarily occupied ZNPP with the integrated power system of Ukraine, which caused a blackout at the plant.

Earlier, Zaporizhzhia NPP reported to the IAEA team that a drone had hit the roof of a training centre located just outside the plant's perimeter.