The AP Interview: Ukraine aims to restart occupied reactors
The head of the company operating Europe’s largest nuclear plant, which is occupied by Russian troops, says Ukraine is considering restarting the facility to ensure its safety — just weeks after fears of a radiation disaster prompted its shutdown
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The head of the company operating Europe’s largest nuclear plant, which is occupied by Russian troops, says Ukraine is considering restarting the facility to ensure its safety — just weeks after fears of a radiation disaster prompted its shutdown.
Run by Ukrainian state nuclear company Energoatom, the Zaporizhzhia plant is one of the most worrying flashpoints in Russia’s occupation of Ukraine. It has been damaged in fighting, prompting international alarm, and the last of its six reactors was shut down on Sept. 11.
In an interview with The Associated Press Tuesday, Energoatom President Petro Kotin said the company could restart two of the reactors in a matter of days to protect key safety equipment as winter approaches and temperatures drop.
“If you have low temperature, you will just freeze everything inside. The safety equipment will be damaged,” he said in his office at the company’s Kyiv headquarters. “So you need heating and the only heating is going to come from the working reactor.”
