UN nuclear watchdog agency sounds alarm over evacuations near Zaporizhzhia power plant
Mike Brest
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The International Atomic Energy Agency warned over the weekend of a “potentially dangerous” situation near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory amid the evacuation of residents from areas close to the facility.
Roughly 1,600 people, including 660 children, have been evacuated from five districts and two front-line cities near the plant, Yevgeniy Balitskiy, the Russia-appointed acting governor of the Zaporizhzhia region, said Monday.
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IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi warned on Saturday that the Zaporizhzhia area had “seen a recent increase in military presence and activity,” with the region being under Russian control even though many of the Ukrainian plant workers remain there. It is Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant.
“The general situation in the area near the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant is becoming increasingly unpredictable and potentially dangerous,” he said. “I’m extremely concerned about the very real nuclear safety and security risks facing the plant. We must act now to prevent the threat of a severe nuclear accident and its associated consequences for the population and the environment.“
The statement from the IAEA read, “Director General Grossi expressed deep concern about the increasingly tense, stressful, and challenging conditions for personnel — and their families,” and it later noted the power plant director, Yuri Chernichuk, had “stated that operating staff are not being evacuated and that they are doing everything necessary to ensure nuclear safety and security at the plant.”
Chernichuk also noted that the plant’s six reactors are all in shutdown mode, though he also said their equipment is maintained in accordance with all relevant nuclear safety and security regulations.
The evacuation efforts came as Ukraine is expected to launch a much-anticipated counteroffensive to retake Russian-held territory, including the Zaporizhzhia region. The situation in Ukraine has gotten more tense ahead of the expected offensive in recent weeks, with Russia renewing its frequent airstrikes targeting various Ukrainian cities away from the front line of the war in the eastern part of the country.
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Russia launched more than 30 Iranian-made drones at Kyiv on Monday, injuring at least five people and damaging nearby cars and buildings, marking the fourth time in a week and a half that the capital had been targeted in strikes.
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Russian forces struck the city of Odesa, which is in the southern part of the country, and one rocket hit the Ukrainian Red Cross Society’s warehouse. It was “completely destroyed,” while “the fire completely destroyed the humanitarian aid for Odesa region that was stored in the warehouse,” the Ukrainian Red Cross said in a statement.