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Shelling Damages Nuclear Plant's Power Line, As IAEA Push For Security Zone Ramps Up [1]
["Rfe Rl'S Ukrainian Service"]
Date: 2022-10
Shelling has damaged a power line providing electricity to one of the reactors at Ukraine's Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said as it announced that its director will travel to Moscow early next week.
The shelling forced the reactor to temporarily rely on its emergency diesel generators to run cooling systems, the IAEA said on October 7 in a news release.
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The UN's nuclear watchdog said it was informed of the shelling, which took place on October 6, by senior Ukrainian operating personnel at the site.
The diesel generators supplied power to the reactor after its connection to the back-up line was cut during shelling that occurred in an industrial area outside the power plant's perimeter. The high-voltage external power line is the only one available to the plant.
The generators operated for about 90 minutes, while an alternative source of power from four of the other reactors was connected to the unit, whose core cooling was maintained at all times, the IAEA said.
"The incident once again underlined the precarious nuclear safety and security situation at Europe's largest nuclear power plant -- now located in an active war zone -- and especially the fragile and vulnerable supplies of external power that are needed for cooling and other essential nuclear safety and security functions," the IAEA said.
Oleksandr Starukh, the Ukrainian governor of Zaporizhzhya, said earlier on Telegram that the Russian military launched a missile attack on the regional center and its immediate surroundings.
He added that there was a risk of repeated shelling and warned people to stay indoors.
Russia seized control of the Zaporizhzhya plant shortly after it launched its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine on February 24. The plant's Ukrainian operators have remained on site to run the plant.
IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi has praised the operators as "courageous, skilled, and experienced," saying they have been finding solutions to overcome problems that keep occurring because of the conflict.
"However, this is not a sustainable way to run a nuclear power plant. There is an urgent need to create a more stable environment for the plant and its staff," Grossi said.
Grossi visited Kyiv on October 6 for talks with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on the situation at the plant and the IAEA's proposal to set up a nuclear safety and security protection zone around it.
He described his meeting as "excellent," saying on Twitter that there was progress toward a setting up the safety zone.
Grossi will travel to Russia early next week for further consultations on the plan, the IAEA said. The agency had previously said Grossi would travel to Kyiv and Moscow this week.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on October 5 ordered the Russian state to seize complete control of the power plant after he signed decrees that Moscow claims absorb into Russia four regions that it only partially controls.
Ukraine's state nuclear energy company, Enerhoatom, dismissed Putin's move and said Russian documents regarding the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant were "worthless, absurd, and inadequate."
The IAEA on October 7 also expanded its presence at the power plant when four IAEA nuclear safety experts arrived to replace two colleagues who had been at the site since September 1.
The experts are providing independent and impartial observations and assessments of the situation at the plant. They would also provide support to the nuclear safety and security protection zone if it is established.
"Today's rotation underlines our determination that the IAEA will stay at the plant as long as it is required," Grossi said in the IAEA news release. "Their presence is necessary to help stabilize the situation, which remains very difficult and volatile."
With reporting by Reuters
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[1] Url:
https://www.rferl.org/a/ukrain-russia-zaporizhzhya-iaea/32070469.html
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