Kiev : Following shelling in the area, the only remaining power line to Ukraine’s nuclear plant in Zaporizhzhia disconnected from the national grid. Widespread attacks targeting the power lines were reported last week.
The Zaporizhzhia facility is Europe’s largest nuclear power plant. Disconnecting the plant from the grid is dangerous as it could potentially disrupt electricity-run cooling systems for the nuclear reactors and spent fuel rods. And, any nuclear accident could spread radiation far across the continent.
The Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the world had narrowly escaped a radiation catastrophe. Meanwhile, Russia said it was Ukraine shelling that caused fires leading to disconnection of plant from grid.
In the war ongoing, Ukraine had lost controls of the nuclear facility. The disconnection caused blackout in the area for a short while. Power has been restored although all six reactors of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant still remains disconnected from the electricity grid, the state nuclear company Energoatom said.
