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Ukraine National Power Company Ukrenergo has announced the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant is no longer connected to the power grid following military actions from the Russian forces that invaded Ukraine beginning on February 24. This has also affected the city of Slavutich, leaving thousands of people without electricity.
“Because of military actions of Russian occupiers, nuclear power plant in Chornobyl was fully disconnected from the power grid. Nuclear station has no power supply. The military actions are in progress, so there is no possibility to restore the lines. Slavutich city is also out of power supply,” Ukrenergo posted on Facebook.
This report is the latest in a series of concerning escalations related to the power plant, location of the disastrous meltdown of 1986. The Kyiv Independent reports that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has lost contact with safeguards monitoring systems at Chornobyl, also reported by New Scientist.
The IAEA has also called on Russia to allow for the rotation of some of the 210 technical personnel and guards who have remained working in the plant to keep it safe for the last 13 days. Their access to food, water, and medicine is limited and the situation appears to be worsening.
“I’m deeply concerned about the difficult and stressful situation facing staff at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant and the potential risks this entails for nuclear safety. I call on the forces in effective control of the site to urgently facilitate the safe rotation of personnel there,” IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said in a statement.
Chernobyl, as the power plant is known in the West, is the romanization of the Russian spelling. The romanization of the Ukrainian spelling is Chornobyl, to align with the sources we kept this spelling throughout the article.
