Repair work begins at Ukraine's Chernobyl nuclear plant, says IAEA

The International Atomic Energy Agency said on Friday that Ukraine authorities have reported that the technicians have started repairing the damaged power lines in an attempt to restore electricity supply in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) that was entirely cut earlier in the week.

Earlier, Ukrainian authorities have reported that the repairing work began on the evening of March 10 and they had also repaired one section but off-site electrical power was still down, indicating there was still damage in other places. The repair efforts would continue despite the difficult situation outside the NPP site.

The Agency also informed that the emergency diesel generators have been providing backup power to the site since 9 March, and the regulator has reported that additional fuel had been delivered to the facility but the staff still has not been able to rotate.

Adding to the challenges in managing the Chornobyl NPP, Ukraine reported that the regulator lost all communications with the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant on 10 March, a day after the Russian-controlled site lost all the external power supplies.

As a result, it cannot provide information to the IAEA about the radiological monitoring at the facility. Despite this, the regulator has continued to receive information about the situation there through senior off-site management of the plant.

Earlier, the agency also informed that Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia NPP which is also under the control of Russia is not in a position to deliver the necessary spare parts, equipment and specialized personnel to carry out planned repairs.

While Ukraine is reporting all the problems related to Chornobyl NPP, indicating NPP is in danger, Russia on other hand, denied all Ukraine's claims that the Chernobyl NPP is in danger after being captured by Russian forces.

On March 3, Ukraine informed the IAEA that Russian forces had taken the control of the site of the country's Zaporizhzhia NPP.

( With inputs from ANI )

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