The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine is “dangerously close” to suffering an accident because of recent attacks on it, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog agency warned Monday.
The largest nuclear power facility in Europe, Zaporizhzhia has been occupied by Russian forces since shortly after their invasion started in February 2022.
It has been shut down since that year amid frequent shelling attacks.
The plant has come under a series of drone attacks since April 7, with Ukraine and Russia each placing the blame on the other side.
They are the first direct attacks on the plant since November 2022.
“These reckless attacks must cease immediately,” Rafael Grossi, the director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told a meeting of the UN Security Council.
“Though, fortunately, they have not led to a radiological incident this time, they significantly increase the risk at Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, where nuclear safety is already compromised,” said Rossi, whose agency has staff deployed at the facility.
He said the attack “sets a very dangerous precedent” because the reactor confinement structure was hit.
Rossi added: “Two years of war are weighing heavily on nuclear safety at Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Every one of the IAEA’s seven pillars of nuclear safety and security have been compromised. We cannot sit by and watch as the final weight tips the finely balanced scale.”
“We are getting dangerously close to a nuclear accident. We must not allow complacency to let a role of the dice decide what happens tomorrow,” he said.
The risk of a major accident is real even though the reactors are turned off, he said.
