The last two operating reactors at the Russian-owned nuclear power plant Zaporozhye were unplugged today Ukrainian The Ukrainian state nuclear energy company Energoatom said overhead power lines were damaged following nearby fires.

The fires broke out in the ash dumps of a coal-fired power plant located next to the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant — the largest nuclear power plant in Europe — and damaged the cables connecting the power plant to the grid, the company said.

“As a result, two operating power units of the station were disconnected from the network,” Energoatom said in a statement.

According to the company, the station’s security systems are operating normally, and work is underway to connect one of the reactors to the network.

An energy spokesman told Reuters on condition of anonymity that the two shutdown reactors were powered by diesel generators.

Each power plant, which includes a reactor, cooling system and other equipment, has three Soviet-era diesel generators that “can’t run for weeks,” the source said.

Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February, seized the Zaporozhye station in March and has since taken control of it, though the station continues to operate with Ukrainian specialists from Energoatom. There are six reactors in total at the power plant.

IAEA ‘very close’ to gaining access

The International Atomic Energy Agency is “very, very close” to gaining access to the Russian-owned Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, its head Rafael Grossi told France 24 television.

Asked if negotiations on access to the station, in which Grossi said the IAEA would be there in a few days, were successful, he said: “We are very, very close to it.”

Ukrainian personnel still operate the plant, but since March, shortly after the Russian invasion of the country began on February 24, the plant has been under the control of Russian troops.

One side accuses the other of bombing the facility, raising international concern about a possible nuclear accident.

The leadership of the Council of the State Duma of Russia, the lower house of parliament, issued a statement today saying it reaffirmed Moscow’s willingness to assist the IAEA’s mission “so that the agency’s experts can determine on the ground whether there are threats as a result of the ongoing Ukrainian war.” attack on a nuclear power plant with tragic consequences for all mankind.”

Ukraine says Russia is increasing the risk of natural disaster by using the plant as a shield from which to strike in the surrounding area.

French President Emmanuel Macron during his talks with the head of the IAEA Rafael Grossi expressed his country’s support for the visit of IAEA experts to the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, the Elysee Palace said today.

^{According to REUTERS, APE-MPE}