Russia looking for alternative ways to supply power to Zaporizhzhya NPP - Rosenergoatom

Russia is looking at a number of creative alternatives to get electricity to the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant.

Renat Karchaa, an adviser to Rosenergoatom’s CEO, made the statement in an interview with TASS.

Currently, the Zaporizhzhya NPP depends on electricity from Ukraine, which goes through one Dnieper transmission line and the Kyiv regime uses this as a tool for blackmail, he added.

"Ukraine's policy on this matter is nuclear blackmail in its purest form. The powers that be in Ukraine use the power line as a tool (of blackmail - TASS). But we do not sit around and wait for them to come up with another way to blackmail us. Of course, we are hedging, we’re coming up with different options, we’re just doing it quietly."

Karchaa noted that all these ideas are at different stages in the creative process.

On March 22, the observers of the International Atomic Energy Agency received information that the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant may have its last 750 kv backup power line disconnected for "maintenance and repair." However, the agency noted that they do not have any information about "whether this will happen, when and how long it will last."

Karchaa told TASS that Ukraine would deal another blow to the nuclear safety of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant if it decided to cut off the last backup power line. He clarified that if the Kyiv authorities take this step, the plant will have to switch to diesel generators.