The six reactor blocks of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant are lined up on the Dnieper River in south-eastern Ukraine. The six blocks have an output of 6000 megawatts, making the nuclear power plant the largest in Europe. It is of great importance for the power supply of Ukraine, as it supplies almost the entire south of the country with energy.
But the plant is worrying experts in the West. Shortly after the start of the Ukraine war, Russian troops occupied the nuclear power plant. There were attacks as a result of the fighting, in which buildings were damaged. According to research by the US radio station NPR, the damage is far greater – and more dangerous. A Russian grenade struck not far from a reactor block.
After the attacks and occupation, the nuclear power plant continued to be operated by Ukrainian personnel but was monitored by Russian nuclear specialists. After the Russian occupation, only one reactor was in operation, now there are three again, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
However, the nuclear authorities and governments in the West are worried about the situation on the ground. The head of the IAEA has described the situation as extremely unstable and fragile. “All the principles of nuclear safety have been violated in one way or another,” said Rafael Grossi at a press conference at the UN headquarters in New York on Tuesday evening.
An IAEA inspection to check technical safety is urgently needed, said Grossi. But it is currently very difficult for the IAEA to even get into the war zone in Zaporizhia. For the IAEA not only needs the approval of Ukraine and the support of the United Nations. One must also come to an agreement with Russia as the occupier of the place.
Ukraine is opposed to an IAEA mission because Kiev believes it would mean recognition of the Russian occupation.
British secret services are also concerned: in their view, actions by the Russian armed forces are very likely to endanger the security of the Ukrainian Zaporizhia nuclear power plant. Moscow’s intentions regarding the largest nuclear power plant in Europe are still unclear five months after the start of the war, the British Defense Ministry said in an update on Friday.
The Russians are believed to have used artillery units in the areas adjacent to the power plant to attack Ukrainian regions west of the Dnieper River. They may have used the high-security status of the power plant site to protect themselves and their equipment from Ukrainian counterattacks at night, sources said.
Earlier in the week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also expressed a similar concern from the US government. There are credible reports that Russia is using the Zaporizhia facility as a kind of protective shield, shooting at Ukrainian forces from near the facility. The Ukrainians, on the other hand, cannot shoot back because it could lead to a terrible nuclear accident, Blinken lamented.
Russia denied the allegations. “We have repeatedly stated that the actions of our armed forces in no way undermine Ukraine’s nuclear security or impede the routine operation of the NPP (nuclear power plant),” Russia’s UN mission said in a statement.
The sole purpose of the takeover of Zaporizhia by the Russian armed forces is to “prevent Ukrainian nationalist formations and foreign mercenaries from using the current situation in Ukraine to carry out a nuclear provocation with highly unpredictable consequences”.
The Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) also points out the dangers should the nuclear power plant become involved in hostilities – but for Russia. Florian Gering, head of the “Radiological Emergency Response” department, told MDR that in such a case the nuclear power plant posed a considerable risk, but it was much greater for Russia than for Germany.
This would be due to the distance and the prevailing wind direction. Zaporizhia is a little more than a hundred kilometers away from the border with Russia. According to Gering, Russia could have no interest in provoking a serious accident there.
According to its own statements, the BfS has been monitoring the situation in the country since the start of the Ukraine war. In a “24/7 observation”, special attention is paid to the Zaporizhia nuclear power plants and the decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the occupation of which by Russian troops ended at the end of March. “According to the assessment of the BfS, there is no acute risk of a release of radioactive substances. There are also no indications that radioactive substances could have been released in Ukraine,” says the notification of July 20.
However, the information from Ukraine is difficult to verify, and there is little measurement data available from combat zones. “All available radiological readings are within the normal range.”
In addition to the nuclear power plant in Zaporizhia, there are three other power plants in the Ukraine. According to the OECD, there are a total of 15 reactors.
Two reactors are operated in Khmelnytskyi. The power plant was inspected by the IAEA on March 11th. In the city of Rivne, three out of four reactors are in operation. An IAEA inspection took place on July 22nd. The third, the South Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant, has three reactors, two of which are operational. In all nuclear power plants, however, the situation does not appear to be critical or fragile.
Things are still different in Zaporizhia. There is “a paradoxical situation” in which the power plant is controlled by Russia but its Ukrainian personnel continue to direct its nuclear operations, leading to inevitable moments of friction and alleged violence, according to IAEA chief Grossi. The IAEA does have some contacts with employees, but these are “incorrect” and “incomplete”.
Grossi said the supply chain for equipment and spare parts has been disrupted, “so we’re not sure the plant is getting everything it needs.” You have a “catalogue of things that should never happen in a nuclear facility.”
The IAEA must therefore go to Zaporizhia and inspect it to gather the facts about what is actually happening there so that repairs and inspections can be carried out and “to prevent a nuclear accident,” Grossi said.
“So I, as an international official, as the head of an international organization, I ask both sides to continue this mission.”
Sources: DPA, AFP, Reuters and AP news agencies, MDR, NPR, Federal Office for Radiation Protection, IAEA, OECD
