Putin told the IAEA that the Kremlin plans to restart Ukraine's Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant

Russian President Vladimir Putin has told the IAEA that the Kremlin plans to restart Ukraine's Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, which is under Russian occupation, which the IAEA believes further exacerbates the risks of an incident at Europe's largest nuclear power plant, The Wall Street Journal has reported.

It is pointed out that at present five of the six reactors remain in "cold shutdown" status, the sixth is in "hot shutdown" mode to produce steam and heat. Moscow's plan is to restart at least one reactor at the plant.

Although Putin did not give an exact timeline, according to an unnamed European diplomat, it could happen by the 40th anniversary of the plant's connection to the Soviet power grid in December 1984.

The publication notes that Putin's idea scares the IAEA, as Russia is unlikely to have enough specialists to safely restart the plant.

To achieve a restart, Russia would need to bring in numerous technicians trained in the minute features of the plant, as it is not the "Soviet-style" plant that Russian workers are used to. In addition, ZNPP partially runs on Western control systems and American nuclear fuel," the publication writes, citing IAEA experts.

At the moment, five of ZNPP's six reactors are in "cold" shutdown and one is in "hot" shutdown mode to produce steam and heat.

Zaporizhzhya NPP is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. Russian occupants seized it back in early March 2022. Since then, the facility has been under the exclusive control of Russian troops.

The occupants mine the territory and premises of the NPP, place their equipment there, previously regularly shelled nearby areas, and have repeatedly threatened to blow up the plant. During the occupation, 8 complete blackouts have occurred at Zaporizhzhya NPP, which poses a nuclear and radiation threat.