CBRN event in Ukraine on Thu 30th October 2025

Efforts to facilitate the repair of the 330 kV Ferosplavna-1 power line at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) are ongoing, following the discovery last week of additional damage to the line during the successful reconnection of the plant to Ukraine’s power grid, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said today. 

During repair work to restore off-site power to the plant - ending a full month without external electricity - the IAEA confirmed the detection of additional damage to the back-up Ferosplavna-1 line located about 1.8 kilometres from the Zaporizhzhya Thermal Power Plant’s switchyard. Negotiation efforts are now focused on the full restoration of the Ferosplavna-1 power line, one of ten lines the ZNPP had access to prior to the conflict. This line, along with the recently restored Dniprovska line, was one of the two remaining lines used by the plant. Ferosplavna-1 was lost on 7 May, while the Dniprovska line was disconnected late last month. Both sides have attributed the damage to ongoing military activity in the region. 

“We continue to work intensively to support the conditions needed for this additional repair work to begin. Restoring this power line is essential to improving the fragile nuclear safety and security situation at the site,” said IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi. Although the plant’s six reactors have been shut down for more than three years and are not generating electricity, they still require a stable power supply to operate essential safety systems, including cooling pumps and other nuclear safety and security equipment. 

Over the past month, these systems were powered by emergency diesel generators, underscoring the plant’s continued vulnerability amid the conflict. Separately, the IAEA has been informed of military activity in Ukraine early this morning that has led to damage to substations critical to nuclear safety and security in Ukraine. 

Following this, IAEA teams at both South Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant (SUNPP) and Khmelnitsky Nuclear Power Plant (KhNPP) have reported that each of the plants have lost access to one of their off-site power lines. Furthermore, the IAEA team at the Rivne Nuclear Power Plant (RNPP) have reported that the plant has reduced the power of two of its four units at the request of the grid operator. The team at KhNPP also had to shelter at their hotel for several hours this morning. “The dangers to nuclear safety continue to be very real and ever-present,” said Director General Grossi. “I once again call for maximum military restraint in the vicinity of nuclear facilities and full respect of the seven indispensable pillars for nuclear safety and security.” The IAEA continues to implement its comprehensive programme of assistance to Ukraine in nuclear safety and security.