IAEA reports 3 hits to Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant reactor containment

Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Stock photo: Getty Images

Rafael Grossi, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has said the main structures of the containment vessel of one of the reactors of the ZNPP (Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant) took at least three direct hits on Sunday.

Source: Grossi and the IAEA on social media X

Quote from Grossi: “Today, for the first time since November 2022 and after I set out the 5 basic principles to avoid a serious nuclear accident with radiological consequences, the ISAMZ (IAEA Support and Assistance Mission to Zaporizhzhia – ed.) confirmed that there were at least 3 direct hits against ZNPP main reactor containment structures. This cannot happen.”

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Details: Grossi stressed that “no one can gain any military or political benefit from attacks on nuclear facilities, it will not work”.

“I strongly urge military decision-makers to refrain from any action that violates the basic principles of protecting nuclear facilities,” he wrote, without specifying which party he was addressing.

In turn, the IAEA said that its experts confirmed the physical impact of the drone attacks on the ZNPP on Sunday, including that on one of the plant’s six reactors.

“One casualty reported. Damage at unit 6 has not compromised nuclear safety, but this is a serious incident with potential to undermine integrity of the reactor’s containment system,” the statement said.

“This is a clear violation of the basic principles of protection of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant. Such reckless attacks significantly increase the risk of a major nuclear accident and must be stopped immediately,” the IAEA quoted Grossi as saying.

At the same time, neither the IAEA nor Grossi have identified the drones that attacked the ZNPP on Sunday.

Background: 

• On Sunday, the International Atomic Energy Agency announced that a drone exploded on the territory of the occupied Zaporizhzhia NPP. The Russians, typically, blamed Ukraine.
• Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence said that Ukraine was not involved in any armed provocations at the occupied Zaporizhzhia NPP, and that simulated Russian strikes on the territory of the plant were a constant practice of the Russians.

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