Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant

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Other names: Zaporozhye

Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is an operating nuclear power plant in Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine.

Project Details

Table 1: Unit-level project details for Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant

Unit name	Status	Commissioning year	Nameplate capacity	Reactor type	Model	Owner	Operator
1	Operating	1985	1000 MW	Pressurized water reactor	VVER V-320	SE NNEGC "Energoatom"	SE NNEGC "Energoatom"
2	Operating	1986	1000 MW	Pressurized water reactor	VVER V-320	SE NNEGC "Energoatom"	SE NNEGC "Energoatom"
3	Operating	1987	1000 MW	Pressurized water reactor	VVER V-320	SE NNEGC "Energoatom"	SE NNEGC "Energoatom"
4	Operating	1988	1000 MW	Pressurized water reactor	VVER V-320	SE NNEGC "Energoatom"	SE NNEGC "Energoatom"
5	Operating	1989	1000 MW	Pressurized water reactor	VVER V-320	SE NNEGC "Energoatom"	SE NNEGC "Energoatom"
6	Operating	1996	1000 MW	Pressurized water reactor	VVER V-320	SE NNEGC "Energoatom"	SE NNEGC "Energoatom"

Table 2: Additional unit-level timeline details for Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant

Unit name	Construction start	First criticality (more info)	First grid connection	Commercial operation
1	April 1, 1980	December 7, 1984	December 10, 1984	December 25, 1985
2	January 1, 1981	June 28, 1985	July 22, 1985	February 15, 1986
3	April 1, 1982	December 4, 1986	December 10, 1986	March 5, 1987
4	April 1, 1983	December 15, 1987	December 18, 1987	April 14, 1988
5	November 1, 1985	July 20, 1989	August 14, 1989	October 27, 1989
6	June 1, 1986	October 6, 1995	October 19, 1995	September 17, 1996

Table 3: Additional unit-level capacity details for Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant

(Read more about nuclear capacity definitions.)

Unit name	Reference net capacity	Design net capacity	Thermal capacity
1	950 MW	950 MW	3000 MWt
2	950 MW	950 MW	3000 MWt
3	950 MW	950 MW	3000 MWt
4	950 MW	950 MW	3000 MWt
5	950 MW	950 MW	3000 MWt
6	950 MW	950 MW	3000 MWt

Location

Table 4: Unit-level location details for Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant

Unit name	Location	Coordinates (WGS 84)
1	Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine	47.5067, 34.5851 (exact)
2	Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine	47.5067, 34.5851 (exact)
3	Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine	47.5067, 34.5851 (exact)
4	Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine	47.5067, 34.5851 (exact)
5	Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine	47.5067, 34.5851 (exact)
6	Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine	47.5067, 34.5851 (exact)

The map below shows the exact location of the nuclear power plant:

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Background

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in south-eastern Ukraine is the largest nuclear plant in Europe and among the ten largest in the world.

It is operated by the National Nuclear Energy Generating Company Energoatom that also operates Ukraine's other three nuclear power stations - Rivne nuclear power plant, South Ukraine nuclear power plant and Khmelnitski nuclear power plant.

Prior to the start of the war in February 2022, the plant contributed over 20% of total electricity generation in Ukraine, producing 40-42 billion kWh in 2021.

War in Ukraine

The plant was captured by the Russian forces in early March 2022 and has been controlled by the Russian Rosatom since then. The plant continues to be operated by some Ukrainian staff under Russian control, under immense pressure.

Since July 2022, the situation has escalated significantly, leading to an ongoing crisis. In early August, the plant was targeted in severe shelling. In September 2022, IAEA delegation visited the plant and published a report documenting damage and potential threats to plant security caused by shelling and the presence of occupying troops in the plant.

In September 2022, operations were fully stopped as a safety measure and Unit 6 switched off. Russia and Ukraine accused each other of shelling the plant. With declared annexation of Zaporizhia region in September 2022, Russia also declared legal takeover of the plant. Russian forces detained a number of the plant's Ukrainian employees. In November 2022, Russia announced that it wants to connect the plant to the Russian grid.

IAEA published another report in February 2023 on the state of the plant, highlighting that the safety and security situation continues to be fragile and potentially dangerous.

As of March 2023, the six reactors were shut down and the plant was not producing, but two reactors were in hot shutdown - providing heat for the plant and the nearby town of Energodar. Despite the shutdown, the units still need a constant supply of electricity to keep the nuclear fuel inside cool and prevent disaster. With only two power lines available — the Dniprovska 750 kV and the 330 kV backup - the power supply remained highly vulnerable. The plant has been forced to operate on back-up generators a number of times since its occupation - as of March 2023, there were six emergency shutdowns.

In March 2023, the head of IAEA abandoned the idea of creating a safety and security zone around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. At the core of the new concept is the principle that "a nuclear power plant should not be attacked, under any circumstances, or should not be used to attack others, or be used as a military base or to store heavy weapons".

The update report published by IAEA on April 13th stated that for the past 6 weeks the plant had been dependent on a single power line, which poses a major risk to nuclear safety and security. The back-up power 330 kV power line that was damaged on 1 March has still not been repaired, with Ukraine saying military action is preventing access to territory it controls.

The nearby thermal Zaporizhia power station (also occupied by the Russian forces) operates the 330 kV open switchyard, through which back-up power has been provided to the plant. The thermal power plant also operates the pumping stations which feed cooling water from the Kakhovska Reservoir to the nuclear plant. The Russian Federation reported in March 2023 that Rosatom was working to restore three 330 kV lines in Russian-controlled territory.

As of April 2023, the IAEA experts present at the site continued to hear shelling in the area and two landmine explosions occurred outside the perimeter fence during April. At the plant itself, one reactor was planned to be transitioned to a cold shutdown state due to the warmer weather. Reactor unit 5 will remain in hot shutdown to produce hot water and steam for the site. The staffing situation remained complex. Over one-third of the original staff have left the area, some of those remaining have signed work contracts with a newly formed Russian company and some remain employed by Energoatom, but under the direction of Russian appointed management.

Articles and Resources

Additional data

To access additional data, including an interactive map of global nuclear power plants, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Nuclear Power Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.