This week’s restoration of off-site electricity to the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) has eased an immediate risk of station blackout, but further action is needed to stabilize the plant’s increasingly fragile power situation and replenish its depleted diesel fuel reserves, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said today. The ZNPP had lost connection to its sole remaining external power line – the 330 kilovolt (kV) Ferosplavna-1 – on 20 August following military activity on the northern side of the Dnipro River. For nearly three weeks, the plant was therefore forced to rely on emergency diesel generators to power its essential safety and security functions, most importantly the pumps that cool all six reactors and their spent fuel. To address this serious nuclear safety concern, the IAEA negotiated a temporary localized ceasefire – the seventh such arrangement for urgent nuclear safety-related work – enabling demining and repair activities to be conducted from 5 to 7 September. An IAEA field team observed the work, and the line was reconnected on the evening of 7 September, ending the ZNPP’s 26th loss of off-site power during the conflict. “Both sides have engaged constructively with the IAEA to help make this localized ceasefire possible, showing that practical steps can be taken, even in extremely difficult circumstances, to improve nuclear safety,” Director General Grossi told the IAEA Board of Governors earlier this week, shortly before the line was reconnected. The Director General stressed that the ZNPP remains vulnerable and said further measures are needed to strengthen nuclear safety and security, including the transport of additional diesel fuel to the site. Even with external electricity restored, sufficient diesel fuel remains vital, especially as the ZNPP has experienced 10 losses of off-site power since June. The latest loss of off-site power significantly depleted the ZNPP’s diesel reserves, increasing the risk of a station blackout if