A series of explosions was heard near Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant in recent days, a team of International Atomic Energy Agency officials based at the facility have reported.
The blasts point to a possible escalation of military activity in the area surrounding the nuclear plant, Europe’s largest, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said Sept. 8.
Just over a year after the IAEA established a permanent presence at the site to help prevent an accident there during the conflict in Ukraine, the overall situation at the facility remains “highly precarious,” Grossi said in a statement.
Starting last Sept. 2, the IAEA team heard around two dozen explosions over three days, followed by several more into last week. There was no damage to the plant itself, Grossi said.
“The reports I receive from our experts indicate that the explosions occurred some distance away from the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant. Nevertheless, I remain deeply concerned about the possible dangers facing the plant at this time of heightened military tension in the region,” Grossi said.
“Whatever happens in a conflict zone wherever it may be, everybody would stand to lose from a nuclear accident, and I urge that all necessary precautions must be taken to avoid it happening,” Grossi said.
Plant officials informed the IAEA team that more drone strikes had taken place in the nearby city of Enerhodar, where many plant staff live with their families, on the morning of Sept. 7. No casualties were reported.
The IAEA team was informed that the plant would temporarily reduce the number of personnel on the site to minimum levels because of concerns over the increased hostilities nearby.
At the plant, the IAEA continues to see mines between the perimeter fences, but did not see any additional munitions during their recent inspections of the site. However, they have still not been granted access to the rooftops of four of the plant’s six reactor units.
The IAEA team has repeatedly requested access to all six turbine halls, one after the other, “to be able to fully assess, at one time, whether there may be any items present” that threaten the plant’s integrity and could cause a potential nuclear accident, the agency has said.
At present, this request has not been granted.
