IAEA: There has been no release of radioactive material at Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant

Ukraine informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) today that Russian forces had taken control of the site of the country’s Zaporizhzhia NPP, IAEA Director General Rafael Mario Grossi said.

The nuclear power plant continued to be operated by its regular staff and there had been no release of radioactive material, Grossi noted.

Ukrainian counterparts informed the IAEA that a projectile overnight had hit a training building in the vicinity of one of the plant’s reactor units, causing a localized fire that was later extinguished.

The safety systems of the plant’s six reactors had not been affected and there has been no release of radioactive material.

Radiation monitoring systems at the site are fully functional.

However, the operator has reported that the situation remains very challenging and therefore it has not yet been possible to access the whole site to assess that all safety systems are fully functional.

Of the plant’s reactor units, Unit 1 is shut down for maintenance, Units 2 and 3 have undergone a controlled shut down, Unit 4 is operating at 60 percent power and Units 5 and 6 are being held “in reserve” in low power mode.

Two people were reported injured.

The IAEA Incident and Emergency Centre (IEC) has been put in full response mode due to the events at Zaporizhzhia NPP, Director-General Grossi said.

The IEC will be manned around the clock to continuously receive, assess and disseminate information about developments.

The Director-General said he remained gravely concerned about the situation at Ukraine’s largest nuclear power plant. The main priority was to ensure the safety and security of the plant, its power supply and the people who operate it, he said.

“I’m extremely concerned about the situation at the Zaporizhzhia NPP and what happened there during the night. Firing shells in the area of a nuclear power plant violates the fundamental principle that the physical integrity of nuclear facilities must be maintained and kept safe at all time,” he said. (ILKHA)