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Ukraine鈥檚 nuclear power stations have been caught, both politically and literally, in the crossfire ever since the start of Russia鈥檚 invasion. But this week, for the first time in history, all 15 of its nuclear reactors were taken offline by fighting.

Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), near the Ukrainian city of Enerhodar, is Europe鈥檚 largest nuclear power station and has been in Russian hands since in March. The final working reactor at ZNPP was as a precautionary measure. Nuclear plants supply power to the grid when operating, but when shut down they actually draw power from it in order to run vital cooling and safety systems, which means disruption to electricity supply is a major concern.

On 23 November, shelling of power infrastructure in Ukraine by Russian troops led to blackouts that caused emergency diesel generators to start up at ZNPP, as well as at reactors across Ukraine鈥檚 three other nuclear plants that had previously made it through the war with relatively little disruption.

In a statement on its website, that for the first time in the 40-year history of the Ukrainian nuclear power industry, all of its nuclear power plants were not producing power, instead relying on diesel back-up generators. Access to the national grid .

ZNPP鈥檚 six nuclear reactors, all fuelled by uranium-235, are a vital piece of infrastructure that Rosatom, Russia鈥檚 state nuclear energy company, has clung to since the early days of the invasion. Reports suggest that Rosatom is attempting to force Ukrainian staff at the plant to sign new contracts and join its own staff, which the . International Atomic Energy Agency director general Rafael Mariano Grossi says this is putting 鈥溾�� on staff.

suggest that ZNPP could be returned to Ukraine as part of concessions designed to prevent a major counteroffensive against Russian forces. Those rumours were lent at least some credence by the this week that it was holding high-level consultations with Russia about implementing a 鈥渘uclear safety & security protection zone鈥� around the ZNPP. Exactly what this would involve is unclear, and the IAEA didn鈥檛 respond to a request for comment.

at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology says he is sceptical about the idea that Russia is going to return anything of value to Ukraine, but that if it did there would be long preparations needed before the plant could be restored to working condition.

鈥淩estarting the plant would be a lengthy job. Think months, not weeks,鈥� he says. 鈥淭here are equipment and structures to repair, spare parts to acquire, staff to bring back and new staff to hire and train. A couple of reactors might be in good enough conditions to restart sooner, but for full capacity it鈥檚 likely months.鈥�

He says that four of ZNPP鈥檚 reactors are on 鈥渃old shut down鈥� and completely dormant, while two are being retained on 鈥渉ot shut down鈥�, a kind of standby mode. Returning just those two to working order would take months, even if the war ended tomorrow and Energoatom resumed control. Buongiorno says that the plant is operating on 鈥渟hoestring鈥� staffing levels, and that vital spare parts won鈥檛 have been delivered at the optimum rate.

, a scientist working at the Chernobyl site, says the process of restarting a nuclear power plant is long and difficult, but that the energy supply is sorely needed by Ukraine鈥檚 citizens, who are experiencing widespread blackouts across the country.

鈥淚t won鈥檛 [come in time to] help us through winter,鈥� she says. Equipment will need to be checked, which is a job that cannot be rushed, she says. 鈥淓nergoatom says it will be fast, but nuclear-grade 鈥榝ast鈥�.鈥�

at the University of Liverpool in the UK says Russia is 鈥渄oing currently everything to destroy the Ukrainian energy infrastructure鈥� and that even a retreating Russian occupation could cause problems on their way out, making it unusable without the support of Rosatom and its suppliers. 鈥淭hey could destroy tiny essential components which can only be replaced by the manufacturer, and I can鈥檛 see that the manufacturer would be willing to deliver this during war,鈥� he says.