The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant has put operations to a full halt on September 11, according to Ukraine’s government-run nuclear operator Energoatom, Ukrinform reports. According to intelligence data, the Russian occupying forces’ command is probably planning another provocative attack on the city of Enerhodar and the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.
Rafael Mariano Grossi, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General, reviewed the situation at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant earlier and said on September 9: it “is completely unacceptable. It cannot stand. I therefore urgently call for the immediate cessation of all shelling in the entire area. Only this will ensure the safety and security of operating staff and allow the durable restoration of power to Enerhodar and to the power plant. This dramatic development demonstrates the absolute imperative to establish a nuclear safety and security protection zone now. This is the only way to ensure that we do not face a nuclear accident.”
The International Atomic Energy Agency released a report about the nuclear safety and security situation in Ukraine after their team’s visit to examine the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine.
The situation at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant is extremely dangerous. Due to a fire caused by Russian shelling, the last power transmission line connecting the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant with Ukraine’s power grid was turned off on 5 September. The power unit No. 6, which supplies the Plant’s own needs, was disconnected from the network for the second time in its history (Ukrinform).
The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Rafael Grossi visited the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant on 1 September 2022. There was a delay lasting several hours due to shelling around Enerhodar, where the plant is located. Earlier, the plant’s fifth reactor has been shut down as a result of the shelling.
Energoatom, Ukraine’s state nuclear power company, said Russian mortar shelling had led to the shutdown of one of its reactors by its emergency protection system and had damaged a backup power supply line used for in-house needs. One of the plant’s reactors that wasn’t operating was switched to diesel generators, Energoatom said.
Ahead of the visit, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said the mission was aware of “increased military activity in the area” but was determined to press ahead with its plan to visit the facility and meet personnel there. “There were moments when fire was obvious — heavy machine guns, artillery, mortars at two or three times were really very concerning, I would say, for all of us,” Grossi said.
WSJ reported details: “Inside the Mission to Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant: Shellfire, Brinkmanship and Backchannels.” Weeks of diplomacy led to a breakthrough allowing a visit to the complex after months of gridlock.
IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi briefed journalists about the IAEA’s Support and Assistance Mission to Zaporizhzhya upon his return from Ukraine on 2 September at Vienna airport. He explained 7 indispensable pillars of nuclear safety and evaluated a local situation with some graphs. Six representatives of the IAEA Inspection mission (from the 14-member expert delegation) remained at the nuclear plant.
Just in time for this mission, the EU Emergency Response Coordination Centre also mobilised 5.5 million potassium iodide tablets via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism for Ukraine.
Grossi reported that the group had collected important information at the plant and would continue its assessment. “The key things that I wanted to see, I saw.” Grossi said about the Ukrainian staff: “Despite a difficult situation and circumstances, they are very professional in their work.”
Mykhailo Podoliak, Adviser to the Office of the President of Ukraine, believes that the two and a half hours that the mission spent at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant on 1 September were not sufficient for the IAEA inspectors to assess the situation at the power plant to the full extent.
“I think this seems rather odd. The Ukrainian side believes that a mission of this level – and this is first of all a mission of engineers, nuclear physics specialists – which has arrived not just to inspect the canteen or certain rooms, but a mission which has certain procedures in place to inspect the mechanisms of control and management of the complex infrastructure of a nuclear power plant…
[The mission was there to inspect] whether there are any threats to nuclear and radiation safety. So it’s peculiar [that it remained there for] only two hours.
But the IAEA says that several of its members will remain [at the ZNPP] permanently. We’ll see.
And still, two hours, especially when the Russians are constantly in their way, telling them that something struck [the plant] here, an apple had fallen there. I think that the two and a half hours that all of the [IAEA team members] spent at the power plant were only enough for them to hear the Rosatom representative’s curious tales. Not much else.”
Ukraine imposed sanctions against 700 individuals and entities affiliated with Rosatom, a Russian state corporation in charge of nuclear energy projects. One of them is Renat Karchaa, the man who accompanied the head of the IAEA to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. His wild career took him from studying primates in Sukhumi to being a political strategist in the Russian North.
According to Ukrinform, representatives of the IAEA Inspection mission unloaded the equipment they brought and will continue to work at the station. Grossi said in his video: “IAEA is here to stay and will maintain a continued presence at ZNPP.” But he added: “I will continue to be worried about the plant until we have a situation which is more stable.”
Up to two IAEA representatives may permanently be present at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Ukraine’s Minister of Energy German Galushchenko said during a nationwide telethon on Ukrainian TV channels.
Photos from the mission are available on the IAEA’s Flickr.