The Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine has been without external power for six days, the UN nuclear chief Rafael Grossi said on Monday.
The plant in southeastern Ukraine has been under Russian control since the first weeks of the war. Both Russia and Ukraine have repeatedly accused each other of shelling the plant, thereby endangering nuclear safety.
Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), wrote on X that he had met with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha in Warsaw, where they discussed the situation. He added that the IAEA is working to restore power.
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According to Oleh Korikov, head of Ukraine’s State Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the absence of external power poses a “serious threat to nuclear and radiation safety.” He therefore called for urgent action to restore power.
The IAEA said that the power plant’s power lines collapsed last week for the tenth time during the war. Emergency diesel generators were therefore brought into use to provide the electricity needed to cool the reactor fuel and prevent a meltdown.
Sybiha also commented on his meeting with Grossi at X. He accused Russia of “stealing the Ukrainian nuclear power plant and trying to force it into its own power grid despite the increasing risk of a nuclear disaster.” He stressed that “the world cannot allow this” and pointed out that the only realistic solution is for the IAEA to temporarily take over the management of the plant.
Source: Reuters
