HQ Team
May 31, 2023: Europe’s largest nuclear plant, the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant, in Ukraine, remains “extremely fragile and dangerous” because the war with Russia may escalate, the IAEA has stated.
“The nuclear safety and security situation at the Zaporizhzhya NPP, in particular, continues to be extremely fragile and dangerous,” said International Atomic Energy Agency’s Director General, Rafael Mariano Grossi.
“Military activities continue in the region and may well increase very considerably in the near future. The plant has been operating on significantly reduced staff, which despite being in temporary shutdown is not sustainable.
“And there have been seven occasions when the site lost all off-site power and had to rely on emergency diesel generators, the last line of defence against a nuclear accident, to provide essential cooling of the reactor and spent fuel. The last one, the seventh, occurred just one week ago.”
“We are fortunate that a nuclear accident has not yet happened. As I said at the IAEA Board of Governors in March – we are rolling a dice and if this continues then one day our luck will run out,” he said.
Minimize risk
“So, we must all do everything in our power to minimize the chance that it does.”
Mr Grossi urged the UN Security Council to “unambiguously” support seven principles aimed at preventing a nuclear accident amid the war in Ukraine, now in its 15th month. These included a secure off-site power supply from the grid for all nuclear sites, efficient radiation monitoring systems and emergency preparedness, and communication with regulator and others.
Several of the country’s five nuclear plants and other facilities have come under direct shelling, and all nuclear plants have lost off-site power at some point during the conflict.
“The time has come to be more specific as to what is required. We must prevent a dangerous release of radioactive material,” he said.
Russia’s efforts
Russian Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya said his country has made every effort to prevent threats to the safety of the Zaporizhzhya plant, which he attributed to Ukraine and its “Western backers.”
“In the current conditions, Russia intends to take all possible measures to strengthen the safety and security of the power plant in accordance with our national legislation and our obligations under relevant international legal instruments to which our country is a party,” he said.
Ukrainian Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya said Russia continued to use the nuclear plant for military purposes and has deployed roughly 500 military personnel and 50 units of heavy weaponry there, as well as equipment, munitions, and explosives.
“We reiterate that by illegally occupying ZNPP and making it an element of its military strategy, Russia has violated all key international principles of nuclear safety and security and the vast majority of its obligations under international treaties,” he said.
