Ukraine says Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant ‘completely shut down’

KYIV, Ukraine – September 11 (ONLINE) The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been shut down, according to Ukraine’s nuclear energy agency
The last operating reactor at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP) has been shut down after a transmission line linking the plant to Ukraine’s power system was restored, the country’s nuclear agency Energoatom said on Sunday.

The plant, the largest nuclear complex of its kind in Europe, was “completely shut down” after the plant’s number 6 power unit was disconnected from the grid at 3:41 a.m. local time, the agency said in a statement, adding that “arrangements for its cooling and transfer to a cold state are underway.”

Energoatom said that one of the transmission lines was restored to its operational capacity Saturday, making it possible to power the plant from Ukraine’s energy system and shut down the number 6 power unit and transfer it to the “safest state – cold shutdown.”

The reactor was disconnected from the Ukrainian grid last week and was operating in an “island mode,” generating electricity and using its own energy to power cooling systems.

Last week, a report from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) called for the “immediate establishment of a nuclear safety and security protection zone” around the nuclear power plant.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed the country’s military has retaken more than 2,000 square kilometers (772 square miles) of territory since the beginning of the month.