Electricity supply of Chernobyl NPP resumed - Ukrainian energy minister

(Interfax-Ukraine) - The supply of electricity to the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant has been resumed, Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said.

"The electricity supply was returned to the Chernobyl NPP thanks to the extraordinary effort of Ukrenergo specialists and our nuclear experts and electricians today," he wrote on Facebook on Sunday.

It emerged on March 9 that the Chernobyl NPP's electricity supply was cut off. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that emergency diesel generators would power the NPP and its facilities for 48 hours, and afterwards, "the cooling system of the spent fuel storage would turn off, which poses a threat of radiation leaks."

The Russian side said next day that Belarus was providing electricity to the NPP after the Mozyr-Chernobyl NPP power transmission line was connected to power. The Russian military said in the evening of the same day that the Ukrainian repair crew was permitted to travel to the damaged power transmission line on the NPP's premises.

According to information provided by Ukraine to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), eight out of 15 reactors at four venues, including two at the Zaporizhzhya NPP, are working in the country. Their radiation level is normal. As for the Chernobyl NPP, the Ukrainian regulatory authority is yet unable to share updated information about the radiation level there with the IAEA.