Due to recent bombardment, the Ukrainian nuclear power facility at Zaporizhzhia, the largest in Europe and now controlled by Russian troops, has become the focus of international concern, with both sides trading blame.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) advocated for the rapid installation of a “safety and security protective zone” to avert a nuclear accident in a report released on Tuesday following a visit by fourteen specialists, including its director Rafael Grossi.
The situation evokes unpleasant memories of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear tragedy in the former Soviet Union, which killed hundreds and contaminated Europe with radioactive material.
The plant was taken by Russian forces at the beginning of March, immediately after the invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
The project, located near the town of Energodar on the Dnipro River, contains six of Ukraine’s fifteen reactors and has the capacity to power four million homes.
According to the operator, the six Soviet-designed plants, which were all commissioned between 1984 and 1995, have a total production capacity of almost 6,000 megawatts.
Prior to the war, the facility generated around one-fifth of Ukraine’s electricity.
According to the IAEA, the country is the seventh greatest producer of nuclear energy in the world. It has huge uranium reserves.
The buildings have sustained severe damage in recent months due to shelling, which has affected “the facility’s overall physical integrity,” according to the UN.
The IAEA emphasized that the bombings had escalated since August.
In its report, the agency detailed the many types of damage it had observed throughout the operation, including photographs of shattered windows and destroyed roofs.
The assessment expressed “fear” that the impacts may have compromised safety-critical structures, systems, and components.
Grossi cautioned that shelling “constantly threatens nuclear safety and security.”
Due to military activity that harmed the electrical cables, the facility was separated from the external network and operated with a backup line on Friday.
With only one reactor operating, the facility continued to generate the necessary electricity for nuclear fuel cooling and safety duties.
The remainder are in maintenance or are offline.
According to information supplied to the IAEA, radiation levels in the area were “normal.”
After bombardment triggered a fire, the last operational reactor at the besieged nuclear plant was disconnected from the grid on Monday.
Staff under pressure
Ukrainian personnel continue to operate the facility.
The IAEA observed that they face “very difficult circumstances” because to the presence of military people, vehicles, and equipment at the site.
Experts from the Russian organization Rosatom have also been dispatched to the site, which according to the IAEA “may lead to interference with the usual lines of operational command… and cause potential friction in decision-making.”
The estimated 900 employees, down from 1,230, are under constant stress, according to the report.
A safe zone?
The IAEA, which has left two specialists on-site, has demanded a cessation of shelling to prevent more damage to the facility.
In light of this, the report stated there was a “urgent need for interim steps to prevent a nuclear accident… by establishing a nuclear safety and security protective zone immediately.”
Moscow and Kiev have not yet responded to the suggestion.
Vladimir Rogov, a member of the pro-Russian occupation administration in Zaporizhzhia, was however critical.
“To preserve the nuclear power plant’s integrity, it is important to agree not only on the creation of a protection zone, but also on the implementation of a ceasefire,”
He explained to the Tass news agency.
© Agence France-Presse