Power Restored Near Europe’s Largest Nuclear Plant After Rare Russia-Ukraine Ceasefire

Crucial repairs to a damaged power line near Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant have been successfully completed under security guarantees agreed by both Russia and Ukraine, International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said on December 30.

According to Grossi, the repairs were carried out during a localized ceasefire arranged to ensure the safety of technical crews working in the area. It marked the third such instance in recent months where temporary truce agreements enabled the restoration of power infrastructure critical to nuclear safety.

In late October, a similar “window of silence” allowed engineers to end the tenth—and longest—complete loss of off-site power experienced by the Zaporizhzhya plant since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

This latest repair effort restored electricity transmission between the plant’s switchyards and the neighboring Zaporizhzhya Thermal Power Plant, two weeks after the line was severed amid military activity. The connection is considered vital, as it provides a key supply route via one of the plant’s two remaining external power lines, a 330-kilovolt system.

IAEA experts stationed at the site monitored the operation, which began early Sunday and concluded Monday afternoon after technicians repaired both the damaged transmission line and a separate malfunction involving an autotransformer at the plant’s switchyard.

“The successful repairs carried out this week – as well as those in October and November – demonstrate that it is possible for an organisation like the IAEA to work with both sides of the conflict to achieve a common objective: preventing a nuclear accident that would be in no one’s interest,” Grossi said.

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“I would like to thank both the Russian Federation and Ukraine for engaging constructively with us in making this possible by agreeing to another localized ceasefire. As a result, we have managed to take a crucial step in support of nuclear safety and security. However, the overall situation at the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant and Ukraine’s other nuclear sites remains precarious and our work is far from finished,” he added.

Nuclear power plants require reliable off-site electricity to cool reactors and spent fuel, even when they are not generating power. Before the war, the Zaporizhzhya facility—the largest nuclear plant in Europe—had access to ten external power lines. Today, only two remain operational, underscoring the ongoing risks facing Ukraine’s nuclear infrastructure amid continued Russian strikes.

Earlier, a localized ceasefire was established near the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), enabling the start of critical power line repairs aimed at reducing nuclear safety risks.

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