Pprocess started to restore external power to Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant

The U.N.'s nuclear watchdog said on Thursday the process had started to restore external power to the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine, cut off from the electricity grid for more than two weeks.



Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said the process had begun after consultation with authorities in Ukraine and Russia, who blame each other for the downing of the external lines.



Russian forces seized the plant, Europe's largest with six reactors, in the first weeks of the Kremlin's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The plant produces no electricity, but each side regularly accuses the other of military actions compromising nuclear safety.



"Following intensive consultations, the process leading to the re-establishment of off-site power...has started," Grossi said in a statement on the IAEA website.