The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is completely offline due to damage caused by a fire on power lines, shutting down the two remaining reactors, nuclear company Energoatom said on Thursday, Reuters and AFP reported.

The last two operating reactors at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine shut down on Thursday after nearby fires damaged power lines, Ukraine’s state-run nuclear company Energoatom said.

“Two reactors of the working station are disconnected from the network. As a result of the occupiers’ actions, the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant for the first time in history led to a complete disconnection from the power grid,” the Energoatom group said in a Telegram message.

Fires broke out in the slag mines of the coal plant near the Zaporizhzhia NPP – the largest in Europe – and damaged power lines connecting the NPP to Ukraine’s power system, the company said.

According to the company, the plant’s safety systems were working normally, and work is underway to connect one of the reactors to the network.

Earlier, the RIA Novosti agency reported that safety systems were activated at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant after a power outage was reported in large areas controlled by Russia.

The state nuclear company of Ukraine, Energoatom, announced on Tuesday that Russian troops had delivered two more armored personnel carriers and six trucks to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant located in the Russian-occupied city of Energodar.

Now in Russia, there are more than 40 units of military equipment at the plant, reports Energoatom. Russia has also deployed additional troops there, the company said.

If Zaporizhzhia NPP explodes, it will be a bigger disaster than Fukushima or Chernobyl

Russia recently carried out artillery and airstrikes in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine’s General Staff says, where fighting near Europe’s largest nuclear power plant is raising fears of a catastrophic nuclear incident.

Last week, UN Secretary General António Guterres warned that any accident at the Zaporizhia NPP would be “suicide”.

Former world heavyweight boxing champion Volodymyr Klitsyko warned that fighting at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine could lead to a much bigger disaster than those that took place in Fukushima and Chernobyl, dpa reported on Sunday, Agerpres reported.

Volodymyr Klytsiko, the younger brother of Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klytsiko and a former professional boxer, said it was unclear how Ukrainian personnel were holding up at the factory seized by Russian forces.

“The world must understand that if (the Zaporizhzhya NPP) explodes, it will have the consequences (of the Fukushima and Chernobyl disasters) several times over,” Volodymyr Klitsyko told the British Times radio station.

What happens without power?

In the event of a power outage, the plant will rely only on a backup diesel generator and will have no other options if it fails, said Petro Kotin, chairman of the Atomic Energy Company of Ukraine, the Guardian reported. After 90 minutes without electricity, the reactors reached a dangerous temperature.

“During this outage, the station will not be connected to any power source and this is the cause of the danger,” he said. “If you don’t provide cooling … within an hour and a half, the melting will already begin.”

What is the structure of the plant?

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is the largest in Europe and one of the largest in the world. Its construction began in 1980, and the sixth reactor was connected to the network in 1995.

The Zaporizhzhia NPP has six Soviet-designed VVER-1000 V-320 water reactors containing uranium-235, which has a half-life of more than 700 million years.

As of July 22, only two of its reactors were operating, according to the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA).

Which is the biggest risk for reactors

The biggest risk for the reactors is a drop in water supplies.

Pressurized water is used to transfer heat from the reactor and to slow down the neutrons.

A neutron moderator is needed to slow down fission neutrons (thermal neutrons) to increase their efficiency in creating new fission reactions. The moderator must be a light element that allows neutrons to collide without being captured. Ordinary water, heavy water or graphite is used as a retarder.

If the water is shut off and auxiliary systems such as diesel generators are unable to keep the reactor cool due to an attack, the nuclear reaction will slow down and the reactor will heat up very quickly.

Read also:

• How radioactive material from the Zaporizhzhya NPP would spread across Europe in the event of an accident / Modeling was done by Ukrainians – VIDEO
• What we know about the largest nuclear power plant in Europe and what is the biggest risk for Zaporizhzhia reactors