The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported on Friday a “total power outage” in the Ukrainian town of Energodar, where the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant is located, a situation that “compromises the safety of operations”.
“It is completely unacceptable. This cannot continue,” General Manager Rafael Grossi said in a statement, calling for “Immediate cessation of shelling in the area.”
For weeks, confusion has reigned around the largest power station in Europe, occupied by the Russians, which has been hit by multiple strikes of which kyiv and Moscow accuse each other.
“The electrical infrastructure supplying the city was destroyed by strikes at the thermal power station, causing a total cut in water and electricity,” explained Mr. Grossi, informed by the two experts from the UN body. present on site.
“Given the intensification of the bombardments which are incessant, it is unlikely that it will be possible to restore reliable off-site power to the plant,” added the head of the IAEA, who visited the site. early September.
Under these conditions, the Ukrainian operator Energoatom “plans to close the only reactor in operation”, which currently produces the electricity necessary for cooling the nuclear fuel and the safety of the site.
If necessary, all of the plant’s systems will have to rely on backup generators running on diesel, warns the Vienna-based agency.
In addition, due to these “dramatic circumstances facing the inhabitants of Energodar”, the personnel necessary to maintain the security of the site may no longer be available.
A few days after an alarmist report, Rafael Grossi reiterates his concern: “it is an unsustainable and increasingly fragile situation”.
In the press release, he again calls for the establishment of a security zone around the plant.
Russian troops took control in early March of the plant with six nuclear reactors with a power of 1,000 megawatts each and which produced 20% of Ukrainian electricity before the Russian invasion.