Zaporizhzhia restart? Greenpeace warns of perils

Russia could be preparing to reconnect Ukraine’s closed Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to the grid, a facility occupied by Russia since March 4, 2022. According to a report from Greenpeace Ukraine, satellite imagery shows Russia repairing a transmission line with the assumed intent of restarting Zaporizhzhia but providing the electricity to Russia. Report author Shaun Burnie warned in a May 15 presentation (at 1:43:27) to the National Academy of Sciences that there are many dangers around restart, especially since Russia destroyed the Kakhovka dam that supplied cooling water to the plant from the now drained reservoir. Zaporizhzhia should be “de-occupied and returned to Ukraine,” said Burnie who accused Russia of a “deliberate, orchestrated, planned war against Ukraine’s nuclear plants.”