Tensions are rising around Europe’s largest nuclear power plant. A fire broke out on Sunday evening in the cooling system of the Ukrainian Zaporizhia power plant, occupied by Russian armed forces, with kyiv and Moscow accusing each other of responsibility.
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which has a team on site, “there is no impact on nuclear safety” while the six reactors are shut down. The head of the administration set up by the Russians in the region, Vladimir Rogov, indicated early Monday that the fire had been “completely extinguished”.
“IAEA experts saw heavy black smoke coming from the northern part” of the site after hearing “multiple explosions in the evening,” and were informed by management of “a suspected drone attack” on one of the two cooling towers, the UN body said. In a statement, it called for “immediate access” to the affected area “in order to assess the damage” and “determine the possible cause of this event.”
“The danger of a nuclear accident”
The Director General of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi, also called for an “end” to such “irresponsible attacks which […] “increase the danger of a nuclear accident.” “Any fire on the site or its surroundings implies the risk of its spread to installations essential for safety,” he recalled.
The Zaporizhia power plant, the largest in Europe, has been occupied by the Russians since March 2022. It is located in Energodar, on the south bank of the Dnieper, a river that serves as a natural front line between the warring parties.
“The shelling of the city of Energodar by Ukrainian troops caused a fire in the cooling system,” the region’s governor, Yevgeny Balitsky, who was installed by the Russian authorities, announced on Telegram. Governor Balitsky also assured that the “radiological environment” around the plant, whose six units are shut down for safety reasons, was normal. IAEA experts have “independently verified the radiation levels and confirmed that they are unchanged.”
“Column of black smoke”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said “the Russian occupiers started the fire” at the plant, in a message posted on social media alongside a video showing a column of black smoke rising from a tower. Ukraine’s interior minister said he was “carefully monitoring” the situation from observation stations near the site. “There is no risk of a steam explosion or other consequences,” he added.
Since the beginning of the conflict, the plant has been in a very precarious situation. Moscow has repeatedly accused Ukrainian forces of deliberately bombing the facility, which kyiv denies. Ukraine, for its part, accuses Russia of militarizing the site by installing heavy weapons inside the plant’s perimeter.
The site has already been targeted by gunfire and has been cut off from the power grid several times. The IAEA has frequently called for restraint, fearing that “reckless” military action could trigger a “major nuclear accident”. In addition to Russian-controlled Zaporizhia, Ukraine currently has three nuclear power plants.