A UN nuclear chief warned ‘we are living on borrowed time’ after two landmine explosions near Europe’s largest nuclear power plant in Ukraine.
Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has repeatedly expressed concern about the safety of the Zaporizhzhia plant in Ukraine.
Russian forces seized control of the six-reactor nuclear power plant – Europe’s largest – in war-torn southern Ukraine in March last year – in what Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has described as “radiation blackmail.”
“We are on borrowed time when it comes to nuclear safety and security at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant,” Grossi said yesterday.
“Unless we take action to protect the plant, sooner or later our luck will run out, with potentially serious consequences for human health and the environment,” he added.
UN nuclear chief Rafael Grossi (pictured at Zaporizhzhia plant) has warned that ‘we are living on borrowed time’ after two landmine explosions near Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia plant
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has repeatedly expressed concerns about the safety of the Zaporizhzhia plant in Ukraine (file photo)
Two land mines exploded outside the factory’s perimeter fence — the first on April 8 and another four days later on Wednesday, according to the statement.
It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the blast, it said.
Grossi met senior Russian officials in Kaliningrad last week and before that with Zelensky in Zaporizhzhia to discuss a security plan.
He also warned yesterday that the plant remained dependent on one functioning high-voltage line, which “presents a major risk to nuclear safety and security.”
An emergency power line damaged on March 1 has still not been repaired, the IAEA said.
It added that the workforce situation at the plant remained “complex and challenging,” partly due to labor shortages.
Last month, Grossi warned that a nuclear disaster was quite possible because of the “dangerous” situation at the plant.
“The plant’s lack of access to the electricity grid and the necessary repair work on the last emergency power line could cause a complete loss of power, making it dependent on diesel generators for the seventh time since its conquest by Russia,” Grossi said at the time.
Grossi met senior Russian officials in Kaliningrad last week and before that with Zelensky in Zaporizhzhia to discuss a security plan
Grossi (pictured with Zelensky) warned yesterday that the plant remained dependent on a single functioning power line, posing “a major risk to nuclear safety and security”
“I call again for a commitment from all parties to ensure nuclear safety and security protection at the plant,” he added.
Emergency diesel generators had been activated to power the plant’s safety systems, according to Ukraine’s nuclear power agency Energoatom, which has warned of the risk of an accident.
Without the electricity produced by these generators, the overheating of the reactor fuel could cause a nuclear accident, as happened in Japan’s Fukushima in 2011.
Both sides have accused the other of shelling near the factory since Moscow’s troops took it at the start of the war.
The UN warning comes amid renewed Russian attacks in the eastern city of Bakhmut – an area that has suffered heavy casualties on both sides, leading to the nickname “meat grinder”.
Mercenary group Wagner claims to have occupied most of the city, but Kiev denies this.
A photo taken during a visit to Enerhodar organized by the Russian military shows fragments of a missile in the area of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant
The Defense Ministry confirmed this morning that Russia has “revived its attack on Bakhmut, the city in Donetsk Oblast.”
It said that while Ukraine still has western districts, they have been exposed to “particularly intense Russian artillery fire” in the past 48 hours.
Meanwhile, FBI investigators have arrested Jack Teixeira, the 21-year-old suspect in leaking US intelligence documents revealing Ukraine’s wartime secrets.
Teixeira, who will appear in court today, is charged with removing or passing on classified national defense information – a crime under the National Espionage Act.