Ten out of Ukraine's 15 NPP power units currently connected to grid - IAEA

MOSCOW. July 25 (Interfax) - Ukraine has increased the number of operating power generating units at its nuclear power plants (NPP) from nine to ten, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said.

One more power unit at the Rivne NPP has been reconnected to the grid, the Ukrainian media quoted the IAEA as saying on its website on Friday.

Thus, three power units at the Zaporizhzhya NPP, three at the Rivne NPP, two at the South Ukraine NPP, and two at the Khmelnytskyi NPP are currently connected to the grid.

Meanwhile, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said that recent reports "about events at or near the Zaporizhzhzya NPP" indicate an increasingly alarming situation there. He also called for maximum restraint to avoid any accident that could threaten public health in Ukraine and elsewhere.

"These reports are very disturbing and further underline the importance of the IAEA going to the Zaporizhzhzya plant. I'm continuing my determined efforts to agree and lead a safety, security and safeguards mission to the site as soon as possible. It is urgent," Grossi was quoted by the IAEA's press release as saying.