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IAEA says it lost contact with remote Ukrainian nuclear power plant systems

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Wednesday that it had lost contact with remote surveillance systems at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine again. They have been offline since June 25, and Russian troops have been controlling the site since early March.

According to a statement, the situation is due to a failure in the plant’s communication system.

The organization’s director general, Rafael Mariano Grossi, highlighted the need for an IAEA team to go to the site. As he pointed out, this has not been possible since Russia took control of the nuclear plant.

Even so, it is the Ukrainians who continue to operate the plant. Since the beginning of the armed conflict, the agency has warned of working conditions, which have become stressful with long shifts.

This is the second time in the last month that the IAEA has lost contact with the plant’s remote surveillance systems. Previously, the problem lasted almost two weeks after a “technical outage”.

With the exception of Zaporizhzhia, the IAEA continues to receive remote data from the three other operating plants in Ukraine.

The only other problem is that there is also partial loss of data transmission from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Crews were sent to the site for “safety and security” work in late April and about four weeks ago.

The statement added that Ukraine told the IAEA on Wednesday that eight of the country’s 15 nuclear power reactors are connected to the grid, including two in Zaporizhzhia. The other seven are shut down for regular maintenance or for backup.

The Ukrainian government also highlighted that safety systems remain operational at the four nuclear power plants, which have external power available.

Source: CNN Brasil

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