Zaporizhia, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, is not far from the front in the Zaporizhia region that Russia declared annexed in the course of the war of aggression once morest Ukraine. For months Moscow and Kiev have accused each other of being responsible for attacks around and on the nuclear power plant.
For three weeks now, the nuclear power plant has only been supplied with electricity via a remaining external main power line, Grossi said. If it gets damaged, it will lead to a total failure of the external power supply. The last remaining emergency power line in the nuclear power plant, which has been damaged since March 1, remains switched off and is currently being repaired. “This shows once once more how endangered nuclear safety is in Europe’s largest nuclear power plant,” said Grossi.
Reactor cooling dependent on electricity
As early as March 9, the plant had been without an external power supply for eleven hours when the main power line was interrupted. As a result, it was dependent on its diesel-powered emergency generators for reactor cooling and other important nuclear safety functions, the IAEA said. According to the Ukrainian operator, the nuclear power plant was cut off from the regular power supply as a result of a large-scale Russian rocket attack.
Grossi also warned of the pressure that nuclear power plant personnel are exposed to. The reduced workforce combined with the psychological stress caused by the ongoing military conflict is having an impact on nuclear safety and the protection of the power plant.
The nuclear power plant, which has six blocks and an output of 6,000 megawatt hours (MWh), has been under Russian control for a good year following the Russian invasion. All reactors have now been shut down and are only being cooled and monitored. Incidents of artillery fire had fueled international concerns regarding a nuclear catastrophe.
Stoltenberg: Putin is planning more war
Meanwhile, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg pledged the West to continue supplying Ukraine with weapons to fight the Russian invasion. Russian President Vladimir Putin has no immediate plans for peace in Ukraine, he told the British newspaper Guardian (Thursday). “President Putin is not planning for peace, he is planning for more war.”
The West must therefore be prepared to continue supplying Kiev with weapons for a long time to come. Russia is increasing military industrial production for its “war of attrition” and is reaching out to “authoritarian regimes like Iran and North Korea” to get more weapons, Stoltenberg said. The fierce fighting around Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine showed that Russia was prepared to “deploy thousands and thousands of soldiers and accept many casualties for minimal gains”.
“It’s regarding industrial capacities”
As a result, the US, UK, France, Germany and other western states would have to be prepared to provide Ukraine with arms, ammunition and spare parts for a long period of time. “The need will continue because this is a war of attrition; it’s regarding the industrial capacity to sustain support.”
Stoltenberg said that with equipment provided by the West, Ukrainians would be able to “take back territory and liberate more and more land” that Russia captured following the February 2022 invasion. The aim is to “enable the Ukrainians to launch an offensive and retake territory”.
