The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors is to hold an emergency meeting at the request of both Russia and Ukraine to discuss attacks on the Zaporizhia (NPP), following a series of drone attacks on the plant.
Russia said 9 April that Ukraine had again attacked the plant with drones, for a third consecutive day. Ukraine denied responsibility alleging that the incidents were “staged by Moscow”.
In a confidential note to member states, the chairperson of IAEA Board said Ukraine and Russia had both requested an extraordinary meeting, which had been agreed. Russian and Ukrainian letters were attached to the chairperson’s notification of the meeting. Russia said it wanted a meeting on “the recent attacks and provocations of the armed forces of Ukraine” while Ukraine said it wanted to discuss “the situation in Ukraine and the safety, security and safeguards implications”.
Meanwhile the IAEA said it had been informed of the latest drone attack. The IAEA team of experts stationed at the plant – who had verified the impact of earlier attacks – reported hearing bursts of rifle fire followed by a loud explosion on 9 April, the same time that the ZNPP later said an incoming drone had detonated on the roof of the facility’s training centre.
The training centre is located just outside the site perimeter, around half a kilometre from reactor unit 1, and the incident did not pose any threat to nuclear safety and security at ZNPP. However, ZNPP staff are routinely present in the training centre. The IAEA team requested immediate access to the building to assess the possible impact but was informed that the military security situation did not allow it.
“Today’s reported incident – although outside the site perimeter – is an ominous development as it indicates an apparent readiness to continue these attacks, despite the grave dangers they pose to nuclear safety and security and our repeated calls for military restraint. Whoever is behind them, they are playing with fire. Attacking a nuclear power plant is extremely irresponsible and dangerous, and it must stop,” said IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi.
The Agency experts were also informed by the ZNPP about other similar events over the past few days. ZNPP said there had been a drone strike near the site’s oxygen and nitrogen production facility. The IAEA team were informed of two other alleged drone attacks outside the site perimeter, at the nearby port and at the training centre. Grossi said he plans to brief the United Nations Security Council about the situation next week. It will be the seventh time he addresses the 15-nation body on the situation in Ukraine in just over two years.
“I remain determined to do everything in my power to prevent a major nuclear accident during this tragic war. At this moment of great danger, I will underline the seriousness of the situation in my address to the Security Council, whose support is of paramount importance for the IAEA’s persistent efforts to help prevent a major nuclear accident, with potential consequences for people and the environment in Ukraine and beyond,” he said.
Renat Karchaa, an advisor to the CEO of Russian nuclear utility Rosenergoatom told the Soloviev Live channel that the Ukrainian army is attacking ZNPP in attempts to trigger a nuclear incident. "They need a nuclear incident on the ZNPP premises of the. They need a pretext to accuse us of an irresponsible attitude to nuclear safety. This is the reason behind allegations that our drones are attacking ZNPP.”
ZNPP said the Ukrainian drone had damaged the roof of the training centre, which houses the world's only full-scale simulator of a reactor hall. There were no injuries. According to the Director of Communications a ZNPP, Yevgenia Yashina, the drone attack on the training centre occurred 10 minutes after the IAEA mission had passed by returning from a planned event to visit the external radiation monitoring laboratory," she told RIA Novosti. Yashina clarified that the roof of the building was damaged, but the simulator was not affected. She noted the uniqueness of the centre, which represents a fully equipped reactor hall but without nuclear fuel.
According to some reports, the drone shot down over the dome of unit 8 on 8 April was assembled in the Ukrainian military workshop in Kherson from components produced by South Korea and Taiwan, produced and delivered to Ukraine in 2023 under the quota of the governments of those countries.
Alexander Shutikov, Director General of Rosenergoatom told TV1 that Rosatom, together with law enforcement agencies, is doing everything possible to ensure the safe operation of ZNPP. “I would like to emphasise once again that the plant is not only power units with reactors loaded with nuclear fuel. This is a complex mechanism with a large number of sub-systems and auxiliary industries, the violation of which can lead to irreparable consequences. In addition to the well-protected power units, the industrial site NPP also houses used nuclear fuel storage facilities, mobile diesel generators, and a large supply of diesel fuel for emergency response systems. The destruction of any of these objects can provoke a nuclear accident.”
He added: “Zaporizhia station is primarily about staff. Today, the NPP has 5,000 employees. These are truly courageous people who keep the city of Energodar and the whole of Europe from the consequences of a possible nuclear catastrophe. "
Russian officials criticised the Western press and politicians for refusing to accuse Ukraine for its attacks on ZNPP. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said: “We will seek from the IAEA an honest recognition of who is attacking the nuclear power plant.” He added: “The heads of the IAEA, unfortunately, have not yet established where and by whom the terrorist attacks on the Zaporizhia NPP are being carried out, but now it will not be possible to evade responsibility,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
Image: Damage to the roof of the training centre at Zaporizhia
