Armenia's nuclear power plant is urgently shut down and disconnected from the power grid due to lightning strike

On August 31 local time, Armenia's Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure said that on the evening of the 30th, Armenia's nuclear power plant was disconnected from the power grid after urgently entering the safe shutdown mode due to a lightning strike. Staff are working on restarting the nuclear power plant.

On the evening of August 30 local time, Armenia's nuclear power plant suffered a lightning strike accident. At around 20:55 that night, the nuclear power plant disconnected from the power grid after urgently entering the safe shutdown mode.

This incident caused a failure at a substation, which in turn led to power outages in the capital Yerevan and other places for about 15 minutes. Armenia's nuclear power plant is located about 30 kilometers west of the capital Yerevan. It is currently the only operating nuclear power plant in the South Caucasus region and provides 40% of Armenia's total power generation.

After the accident, Armenia's Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure took quick action, and staff actively engaged in the restart work of the nuclear power plant. The incident of the nuclear power plant being urgently shut down and disconnected from the power grid due to a lightning strike has attracted widespread attention from Armenia and the international community. The safe operation of a nuclear power plant is crucial for a country's energy supply and public safety. Relevant departments said they will conduct an in-depth investigation into this incident to determine the specific impact of the lightning strike on the nuclear power plant facilities and take corresponding measures to ensure the safe and stable operation of the nuclear power plant in the future, and guarantee the country's energy supply and people's living needs. The international community is also closely following the follow-up progress of the incident and the recovery of Armenia's nuclear power plant.