The U.N. atomic watchdog agency says Ukraine's Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant faces increasing danger after a drone strike hit the road around its perimeter and near its last power line.
What's new: The International Atomic Energy Agency says an explosive carried by a drone detonated on Saturday just outside of a protected area for the plant, which is Europe's largest nuclear power facility. It hit close to the cooling water sprinkler ponds and only about 100 meters from the Dniprovska power line, the only remaining 750 kilovolt (kV) line that provides a power supply for the plant. The water and electricity are needed to prevent catastrophe by cooling the shutdown reactors and spent fuel.
What's next: IAEA is leading talks to try keep military action away from such an important and operating nuclear power plant. “Yet again we see an escalation of the nuclear safety and security dangers facing the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant," warned IAEA's Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi. "I remain extremely concerned and reiterate my call for maximum restraint from all sides and for strict observance of the five concrete principles established for the protection of the plant."
The five principles are:
- There should be no attack of any kind from or against the plant, in particular targeting the reactors, spent fuel storage, other critical infrastructure, or personnel.
- ZNPP should not be used as storage or a base for heavy weapons (i.e. multiple rocket launchers, artillery systems and munitions, and tanks) or military personnel that could be used for an attack from the plant.
- Off-site power to the plant should not be put at risk. To that effect, all efforts should be made to ensure that off-site power remains available and secure at all times.
- All structures, systems and components essential to the safe and secure operation of ZNPP should be protected from attacks or acts of sabotage;
- No action should be taken that undermines these principles.
What's important: IAEA says the drone attack caused no casualties and had no impact on any of the plant's equipment, but it damaged the road between the plant's two main gates. A fire in one of its cooling towers earlier in the week caused considerable damage. A week earlier, an artillery attack struck a local power and water substation that led to a citywide power outage in nearby Enerhodar, home to most of the plant's staff. Water had to be supplied using diesel generators. “Nuclear power plants are designed to be resilient against technical or human failures and external events including extreme ones, but they are not built to withstand a direct military attack, and neither are they supposed to, just as with any other energy facility in the world,” Grossi says. “This latest attack highlights the vulnerability of such facilities in conflict zones and the need to continue monitoring the fragile situation.”
Who's involved: Russia took control of the nuclear plant soon after it invaded Ukraine in Feb. 2022, prompting widespread fears for its safety along the Dnieper River. Last year, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian forces blew up the Kakhovka dam and hydroelectric power station along the river, creating “the largest man-made environmental disaster in Europe in decades," while Moscow blamed it on the Ukrainian military.
What's happening now: Military activity is "very close" to the plant and has been intense for the last week, IAEA says, with no sign of it abating – there have been frequent explosions, repetitive heavy machine gun and rifle fire and artillery heard not far away.
