Situation around Zaporozhye NPP not getting any calmer - Rosatom CEO

TASHKENT. April 21 (Interfax) - The situation around the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) is not getting any calmer, as negotiations for a "window of silence" to repair damaged power lines have not yielded any results yet, Rosatom CEO Alexei Likhachev said on Monday.

"The situation is not getting any better [...], the plant continues to receive power only through one external line, while the other - the Dneprovskaya one - is damaged. It runs over the Dnieper River, and the water is currently high, so our negotiations to find a 'window of silence' to repair this line are currently hindered and will likely be postponed until the near future," Likhachev told reporters in Tashkent.

"Last week, external power was completely lost once. Diesel generators were reactivated, and everyone worked as planned," Likhachev said. "In this regard, I want to emphasize that the diesel system is functioning properly, and the personnel feels confident and has learned to work quickly and efficiently, taking into account the possibility of power outage," he added.

Furthermore, "Energodar was hit by several attacks, the city was left without electricity and spent several hours in a complete blackout, but our backup power system was reactivated," Likhachev said. "Although this is not a pleasant surprise, because the nuclear city is part of the nuclear safety infrastructure. Several people were hurt, unfortunately, a man was injured, and so far - I would like to emphasize - the situation is not easing either in Energodar itself or around the Zaporozhye NPP site. We will do everything we can to support the personnel," Likhachev said.