Ukrainian nuclear power plant
IAEA: Concerns about control at Zaporizhia NPP
Zaporizhia nuclear power plant. Photo: Uncredited/AP/dpa
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According to Ukraine, the Russians are now in charge of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, and Russia has denied it. The IAEA warns that the unclear situation violates one of the seven essential pillars of security.
At the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, which is occupied by Russian troops, it is unclear who is responsible for operation and safety.
The Ukrainian nuclear power operator Enerhoatom reported to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that the nuclear power plant was “under the control of the commander of the Russian armed forces,” as the IAEA reported on Saturday evening.
The management must coordinate with the Russian armed forces on all operational issues, including technical issues. The Russian state-owned company Rosatom, on the other hand, denied having taken over operational control in an exchange with the IAEA.
IAEA: Nuclear Safety Violated
The current situation violates one of the seven essential pillars of nuclear safety, warned IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi on Saturday evening. This is the pillar “Operations personnel must be able to perform their safety responsibilities and make decisions free from undue pressure”.
Grossi has expressed grave concern about the safety of Ukraine’s nuclear facilities. The IAEA is ready to help on the ground, but this presupposes an urgently needed agreement on the safety of nuclear facilities between Russia and Ukraine. Grossi spoke about this on Thursday in Antalya, Turkey, with the foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine, Sergey Lavrov and Dmytro Kuleba.
The safety of the facility should be assessed
According to information from Kyiv, eleven employees of the Russian state-owned company Rosatom, including two engineers, arrived at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in addition to around 400 soldiers. Representatives of a self-proclaimed military-civilian administration said the group would assess the safety of the facility and would also be responsible for repair work.
The Russian Rosatom confirmed the presence of several Russian experts at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant. They are “advising” the Ukrainian specialists. Administration and operation are in the hands of Ukraine.
Ukraine also told the IAEA that Russia plans to give Rosatom full and permanent control of Zaporizhia. Russia denied this to the IAEA.
According to Ukrainian sources, a training building near a reactor at the nuclear power plant caught fire more than a week ago after it was said to have come under fire. According to the IAEA, the automatic transmission of data is now working again after an interruption.
Power supply in Chernobyl works again
According to Ukrainian sources, the former Chernobyl nuclear power plant is fully connected to the power supply again. “Today our nuclear scientists and electricians (…) managed to restore the power supply to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant seized by the Russian occupiers,” Ukrainian operator Enerhoatom said on Telegram on Sunday evening. As a result, the cooling systems of the spent fuel storage facility were now running normally again and no longer only on an emergency power supply.
The Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which was occupied by Russian units, was cut off from the power supply last Wednesday. Power lines had been damaged by shelling, the Ukrainian side said at the time. Russia, for its part, blamed Ukrainian «nationalists».
On Friday evening, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna announced that technicians had managed to repair part of the power lines. A devastating nuclear accident happened in Chernobyl in 1986. Radioactive waste is still stored there today.