The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP) crisis has entered a new and potentially disastrous phase. As of 16.56 hrs local time on 26 September 2025, for 72 hours Europe’s largest nuclear power plant has been dependent on emergency diesel generators to provide essential electricity supply to the safety systems of the six-reactor nuclear site. Emergency diesel generators are considered a last line of defense to be used only in extreme circumstances, according to Greenpeace analysis.
This is the tenth loss of external grid connection or Loss Of Off-site Power (LOOP) since the russian armed forces attacked and occupied the ZNPP on 4 March 2022. It is already by far the longest loss of power since 2022, and there are no signs of russian engineers conducting repairs. A series of separate but significant developments have coalesced in recent days to the point where Greenpeace Ukraine concludes that russia and the russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom are on the verge of a major escalation of the nuclear crisis at ZNPP.The key developments are:
- russian construction of a new 201km electricity power line between the substations of Melitopol and
- Mariupol;
- Deliberate russian damage to the 750kV power line near the ZNPP within the russian illegally occupied
- area, a complete disconnection from the Ukrainian grid and the loss of all electricity supply to the ZNPP;
- Completion of a new water management supply system at ZNPP cooling pond;
- Reactor restart plans entering “final stage” according to russian state nuclear corporation, Rosatom.
All of these developments are linked to the kremlin’s stated aim of restarting the reactors at the
ZNPP which have not generated electricity since September 2022.
