Fears of a nuclear accident mount when Ukraine’s Zaporizhia power plant is damaged
Violent explosions shook the area around Ukraine’s Zaporizhia nuclear power plant last day, causing damage to the site, the United Nations Atomic Energy Agency said.
Damage has been identified to several buildings and equipment, although so far none have been critical to nuclear safety and security, the International Atomic Energy Agency said on its website, citing plant management.
More than a dozen explosions could be heard within a short space of time on Sunday morning. Members of the agency’s surveillance team who have been on the ground in Zaporizhia since September could also see some of the blasts from their windows, the IAEA said.
Russia and Ukraine have traded blame for sporadic shelling near Europe’s largest nuclear power plant for months, and did so again on Sunday.
Nuclear Security Risk
“The news from our team yesterday and this morning is extremely worrying,” said IAEA Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi. “Whoever is behind this has to stop immediately.”
The Russian army issued a statement blaming Ukraine for the shelling and said Kyiv “does not stop its provocations aimed at creating the threat of a man-made disaster”. It said radiation levels remain normal.
Energoatom, Ukraine’s nuclear regulatory agency, said on Telegram that Russian forces had attacked the facility, causing damage to link flyovers, chemically desalinated water storage tanks and the steam generator flushing system, among other things.
The damage comes as Ukraine struggles to turn on lights for millions of people after weeks of Russian missile and drone attacks on power plants across the country.
“The Russians have targeted and disabled the very infrastructure needed to launch the 5th and 6th power plants and restore power generation to the Ukrainian grid,” Energoatom said.
The power plant has been under Russian control since shortly after Moscow’s February 24 invasion, but continues to be run by Ukrainian personnel. Russian President Vladimir Putin declared the plant part of Russia in September amid a broader annexation of the Zaporizhia region.
The IAEA has unsuccessfully urged Ukraine and Russia to agree to a security zone around Zaporizhia. Nearby artillery fire and shelling has repeatedly disconnected the facility from the grid, posing a safety hazard.
—Assisted by Alex Nicholson and Olesia Safronova
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