June 26 (Reuters) – The U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Friday repairs had been completed on a key power line and other energy infrastructure vital for nuclear safety at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP).
Repairs, carried out under a temporary local ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia, involved two separate locations, the 750 kilovolt Dniprovska power line and the switchyard of the Zaporizhzhya Thermal Power Plant, which helps supply electricity to the ZNPP through the back-up 330 kV Ferosplavna-1 line, the agency said.
However, the Dniprovska line had not yet been brought back into operation because of extensive damage to its connecting substation.
“The line has been repaired, but it still needs to be brought back into operation,” International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Mariano Grossi said in a statement.
Repair efforts of the substation were ongoing, but were not expected to be completed in the near term, the agency said.
Reporting by Linda Pasquini; Editing by Thomas Derpinghaus.
