The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station in Ukraine was forced to rely on emergency diesel generators for reactor cooling and other essential nuclear safety and security functions following a complete loss of external power this week.

The facility’s operators used the generators for 11 hours on Thursday (9 March), until the 750 kilovolt (kV) power line – the only one still in operation out of four before the conflict – was reconnected.

This latest incident underlined the urgent need to protect Europe’s largest commercial nuclear facility, International Atomic Energy Agency director-general Rafael Grossi said.