[In-depth] A shut-down reactor still needs power — the record of Zaporizhzhia's off-site power losses

Sun, 13 Sep 2026 09:00:00 +0900

On August 20, 2026, the last power line still feeding the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, on the left bank of the Dnipro River in southern Ukraine, was cut after military activity across the river. It was the 330 kV Ferosplavna-1 line. The plant’s emergency diesel generators, on-site units that start automatically when grid power fails, kicked in, and for the next 18 days the pumps cooling six reactors and their spent fuel pools ran on diesel, not on the grid.

Zaporizhzhia on EnergyNote

[In-depth] A shut-down reactor still needs power — the record of Zaporizhzhia's off-site power losses