IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said on Friday in a statement, that a location near the town of Enerhodar, home of most of the plant’s staff, reportedly came under artillery fire earlier in the day, “in the latest incident indicating an increasingly tense military situation in the area.”
The ZNPP, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, is located just a few kilometres from Enerhodar.
IAEA experts present at the plant reported that it had not been affected “but the proximity once again underlined persistent nuclear safety and security dangers at a time of heightened speculation of future military operations in the region,” said Mr. Grossi.
The Director General said he is engaged in intense negotiations with all parties to achieve this vital objective and help prevent the risk of a severe nuclear accident on the continent.
“It is very simple: don’t shoot at the plant and don’t use the plant as a military base. It should be in the interest of everyone to agree on a set of principles to protect the plant during the conflict,” he said.
The ZNPP was occupied by Russian forces shortly after the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine
“Our experts have seen a notable increase of personnel at the plant this week. At the moment, it has enough staff for a plant whose reactors are all in a shutdown mode. It remains clearly insufficient, however, for carrying out necessary maintenance and other regular work,” said Mr. Grossi, who described the situation as “unsustainable”.
He warned that the longer the plant has this kind of reduced staffing, the bigger the nuclear safety and security risks become.
Source : UN
