Ukraine’s Nuclear Regulator has been able to keep in touch with staff at the Zaporizhhzhya Nuclear Power Plant, even after the plant was taken over by the Russians. The information was supplied by the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Mariano Grossi. According to the plant’s staff, security systems are intact and radiation levels are normal. Two of the plant’s six reactors are still operating.
The Zaporizhhzhya Nuclear Power Plant is the largest in the country. According to Ukraine’s Nuclear Regulator, the training center was heavily damaged, but these facilities are separate from the reactors. This Friday (4), the place was hit by a “projectile”, which set off a fire, which was later extinguished. The attack also damaged the building where the laboratories are located and an administrative structure. An inspection was carried out to detect damage to the reactors, but nothing was found.
According to the IAEA, the team at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, also under the control of the Russian Army, has been at the site since February 23, trying to rotate shifts with the technical staff and guards from Zaporizhhzhya, but were prevented from entering.
Grossi warned about the importance of this relay, so that the plant’s technicians can do their work safely. In response, the director of Ukraine’s National Nuclear Power Generation Company, Energoatom, Petro Kotin, informed Grossi yesterday that the change of work shifts was already allowed at the plant.
An attack by Russian troops on Ukraine’s nuclear plants sparks a worldwide alert about the possibility of a new nuclear accident, similar to what happened in Chernobyl in 1986. At that time, Ukraine was still a territory part of the Soviet Union.
At the time, an unsuccessful safety test caused one of the plant’s four reactors to explode. The explosion released a huge radioactive cloud, which spread over much of Europe. To this day, the city of Chernobyl, which was hastily evacuated at the time, is kept isolated. The episode marked the beginning of the collapse of the Soviet Union.
