Ukraine's nuclear plant cut from main power line again: Officials

Europe's largest nuclear plant, Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, once again went off in the early hours of the day amid the shelling that destroyed a key power line.

These claims came a day after a team of inspections from the UN nuclear agency arrived at the plant to inspect for damage, Al Jazeera reported citing local Russian-backed authorities.

However, earlier, Vladimir Rogov, a member of the main council of the regional military-civil administration, said that the power plant is working properly despite the shelling by Ukrainian troops and there was no critical damage.

Late on Friday night, Rogov said on Telegram that the ZNPP had been shelled by Ukrainian troops and that a power line was damaged. One of the shells landed between the second and third power units and the nuclear power plant was switched to power supply for its own needs, Rogov specified.

 

"The nuclear power plant continues to operate in the usual mode. Two power units - the fifth and sixth - continue to operate and supply voltage to the grid of 540 and 530 megawatts, respectively," Rogov told Sputnik.

He added that there was no critical damage to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant as a result of the Ukrainian troops' Friday night shelling.

On August 31, the fourteen-membered team of the IAEA arrived in Ukraine.

During their visit, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said that the physical integrity of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station in south-eastern Ukraine has been "violated".

"I worry, and I will continue to be worried about the plant until we have a situation which is more stable, which is more predictable. It is obvious that the plant and the physical integrity of the plant have been violated several times by chance [and] by deliberation," Grossi told reporters after his visit to the plant.

"Wherever you stand, whatever you think about this war. This is something that cannot happen and this is why we are trying to put in place certain mechanisms and the presence," he said as quoted by CNN.

Grossi's remarks come as Ukraine accused Russian forces of trying to disrupt the IAEA visit to the nuclear plant by shelling in the city of Enerhodar near the facility early Thursday.

He also said that the United Nations' nuclear watchdog is "not going anywhere" and will have a "continued presence" at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.

"We are not going anywhere. The IAEA is now there at the plant and it's not moving. It's going to stay there. We're going to have a continued presence there at the plant," Grossi said while speaking to reporters following a visit to the plant.

During the military operation in Ukraine, launched by Russia on February 24, the nuclear plant and surrounding area fell under the control of the Russian forces. The NPP has recently been targeted by multiple shelling, raising international concerns over a possible nuclear accident while Russia and Ukraine continue to blame each other for the shelling incidents.