Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on September 29, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine has been without offsite power for six days, raising safety concerns. The IAEA is working to restore power amid ongoing conflict.
(Reuters) -The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine has now been without offsite power for six days, the U.N. atomic watchdog's chief Rafael Grossi said on Monday.
The plant in southeastern Ukraine has been under Russian control since the early weeks of the war, and each side has repeatedly accused the other of shelling it and jeopardising nuclear safety.
Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, wrote on X that he had met Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha in Warsaw and exchanged views about the plant. He added that the IAEA was working to facilitate the restoration of power.
UKRAINE WANTS TEMPORARY IAEA STEWARDSHIP OF PLANT
Oleh Korikov, head of Ukraine's State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate, said in a statement that the lack of external power posed "major threats to nuclear and radiation safety" and called for efforts to restore it quickly.
The IAEA said the external power lines supplying the plant came down last week for the 10th time in the conflict and emergency diesel generators were brought into service.
The lines supply electricity vital to cooling its reactors' fuel and preventing a meltdown.
Sybiha, writing about his meeting with Grossi on X, said Russia had "stolen the Ukrainian nuclear power plant and is trying to forcibly integrate it into its grid despite the growing risk of a nuclear incident. We agreed that the world cannot allow this."
He said the "only realistic option" was to grant the IAEA temporary stewardship over the plant.
(Reporting by Shubham Kalia in Bengaluru. Editing by Ron Popeski and Mark Potter)
The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant has been without offsite power for six days.
Rafael Grossi is the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The lack of external power poses major threats to nuclear and radiation safety, as it is vital for cooling the reactors' fuel.
Ukraine has called for temporary stewardship of the plant by the IAEA to ensure safety.
Ukrainian officials have accused Russia of trying to forcibly integrate the plant into its grid, increasing the risk of a nuclear incident.
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