Ukraine nuclear power plant loses external power link

All six reactors at the plant are shut down but they still require electricity for cooling and other safety functions

Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station in territory under Russian military control, southeastern Ukraine. Ukraine’s nuclear power provider says Russian forces blindfolded and detained the head of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant hours after Moscow illegally annexed a swath of Ukrainian territory. In a possible attempt to secure Moscow’s hold on the newly annexed territory, Russian forces seized the director-general of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Ihor Murashov, around 4 p.m. Friday. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP, File)

Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the biggest in Europe, has lost its last remaining external power source as a result of renewed shelling and is relying on emergency diesel generators, the UN nuclear watchdog said.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said the plant’s link to a 750-kilovolt line was cut at around 1am on Saturday.