Ukraine ranks seventh in the world and second in Europe in terms of the number of nuclear reactors operated and total capacity.

The enterprise was set up in 1996 under the Ordinance of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine "On the establishment of the National Nuclear Energy Generating Company "Energoatom" dated 17.10.1996 No.

Energoatom is included in the list of enterprises of strategic importance for the economy and security of the state (the Ordinance of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated 03 April 2015 No.

In the cities of Energodar, Varash, Pivdennoukrainsk, Netishyn the number of NPP employees (including their family members) is more than half of the population of the administrative-territorial unit in which the nuclear power plant is located.

The most promising Ukrainian nuclear power plant in terms of realizing Ukraine's export potential on the European energy market.

For the first time in Ukraine, the SUNPP was loaded with fresh nuclear fuel produced by the American company Westinghouse.

1270 regarding the extension of the term of the CCSUP until 31.12.2025)[9] and the Comprehensive Consolidated Program for Improving the Efficiency and Reliability of NPP Power Units Operation.

On August 31, 2021, in Washington (USA), Energoatom and Westinghouse signed a Memorandum of Understanding,[10] which provides for the construction of five nuclear power units in Ukraine using AP1000 technology.

Key stages of the pilot project implementation: Ukraine fulfills its obligations in all aspects of handling spent nuclear fuel in accordance with the requirements of the "Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management"[11] (Joint Convention) ratified by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on 20 April 2022.

In accordance with the Joint Convention, the State bears responsibility for the safe handling of spent fuel and radioactive waste.

During the Soviet Union times, a technical scheme existed under which spent fuel from Ukrainian nuclear plants was taken to temporary storage facilities on the territory of the Russian federation for its further processing.

After the collapse of the USSR, the Russian side began to charge a significant fee for the processing of Ukrainian spent fuel.

In the 1990s, due to yet another restriction imposed by the Russian federation regarding the repatriation of spent nuclear fuel, Zaporizhzhia NPP power units faced the peril of being stopped.

This has prompted the plant to build and commission in 2001 a temporal dry storage of a container type for its spent fuel with Duke Engineering&Services and Sierra Nuclear Corporation design, which allows storing for a fifty-year period.

In 2003 Energoatom announced an international tender to determine the company for construction of a centralized repository for spent nuclear fuel of dry type in Ukraine for previously mentioned NPPs.

According to Ukrainian legislation, the CRSNF site is located between the former villages of Stara Krasnytsia, Buriakivka, Chystogolivka, and Stechanka in the Kyiv region on the territory of the Exclusion Zone, which suffered from the Chornobyl nuclear catastrophe causing radioactive contamination.

The SNF storage system implies the following three functions: A double barrier of radioactive substances localization in a special container (MPC) provides safe spent fuel storage that at each stage of handling spent fuel resides in special protective containers meeting all national requirements ensuring radiation safety.

[12] The permit was scheduled on 9 March, but was postponed due to Russian aggression and temporary occupation of the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone.

In August–September 2022, there is constantly shelling at the ZNPP causing substantial damage to the equipment, buildings, structures, pipelines, installations of the ZNPP, which led to the emergence of nuclear and radiation hazards and a high threat of nuclear accident due to damage to power units, chemical blocks and other equipment and buildings that ensure the operation of the NPP.

A hit appeared between the Training Center and the 750 open switchyard damaging the high-voltage line 150 kV ZNPP – ZaTPS that led to the power outage of the auxiliary transformers No.

On 6 August 2022, military forces shelled the ZNPP and its satellite-town Energodar and hit in the vicinity of the dry spent nuclear fuel storage of the plant.

The actions of the Russian military led to the complete disconnection of the ZNPP from the power grid for the first time in the plant's history.

The loss of power actuated two emergency diesel generators of the safety systems to ensure cooling of the nuclear fuel from pumps.

The safety of NPPs in circumstances of warfare and occupation is a new challenge, as none of NPP in the world have ever been designed with protection from potential hostilities, bombing and missile shelling.

On 18 August 2022, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the meeting with UN Secretary General António Guterres in Lviv agreed on the parameters of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) mission at the occupied Zaporizhzhia NPP.

On 7 September 2022, during the UN Security Council session regarding the situation at the ZNPP, UN Secretary General António Guterres declared "Any kind of harm caused to the nuclear facility can lead to disaster for the region and beyond.

[29] On 15 September 2022 the IAEA Board of Governors, which consists of 35 representatives of the UN member-countries, adopted a resolution demanding that Russia ends the occupation of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.

The selected members include Timothy John Sohn, Michael Elliot Crist, Jarek Neverovich, Vitalii Petruk, and Tymofii Mylovanov.