IAEA warns of heightened security dangers facing Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant

ABC News, Sun 18 Aug

In short:

A drone strike on the perimeter of Ukraine’s Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant has sparked fresh concerns for nuclear safety.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has warned of security dangers escalating and urged both countries to steer clear of attacks on energy facilities.

What’s next?

Zaporizhzhia’s power plant, the largest in Europe, is now reliant on just one power line, which if cut off, could set off cumulative explosions.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has called on Kyiv and Moscow to exercise “maximum restraint” amid fears of a deteriorating safety situation around the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in south-eastern Ukraine.

The facility came under Russian military and operational control in 2022, and has since been a target of repeated shelling with each side blaming the other.

Director-general of the IAEA, Rafael Mariano Grossi, on Saturday said a drone strike carrying an explosive payload had hit a perimeter access road, causing damage just outside of the plant’s protected area.

“Yet again we see an escalation of the nuclear safety and security dangers facing the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant power plant,” he said.

“I remain extremely concerned and reiterate my call for maximum restraint from all sides and for strict observance of the five concrete principles established for the protection of the plant.”

Russia has accused Ukraine of detonating the explosive, according to reports from the TASS news agency.

The IAEA said the impact site was close to the essential cooling water sprinkler ponds and about 100 metres from the Dniprovska power line, the only remaining 750 kilovolt line providing a power supply to the plant.

There were no casualties or impact on equipment, however, there was damage between two main gates of the plant.

The attack comes as Ukraine continues an incursion into Russia, claiming to have taken control of 82 settlements over an area of 1,150 square kilometres in the Kursk region since August 6.

Moscow wants to discuss the drone strike with the IAEA, Russia’s RIA news agency reported, citing Roman Ustinov, the acting Russian representative in Vienna.

Why it matters

The Zaporizhzhia site is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, holding six reactors containing Uranium 235.

All six reactors are now in cold shutdown and the plant is no longer producing electricity, as Ukraine and Russia repeatedly level allegations of sabotage against each other.

But despite the plant being dormant, electrical pumps moving water through the reactor core must still keep working to cool the nuclear fuel.

If the region’s final remaining power line is damaged, this cooling system will stop working, and result in a fuel meltdown which could begin a fire or explosion and induce a major nuclear disaster………………….. more https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-08-18/ukraine-zaporizhzhia-nuclear-power-plant-hit-by-drone-srike/104238964