The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) denounced on Wednesday (March 1, 2024) that the Russian army, which has occupied the Ukrainian Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant since March 2022, is denying UN observers access to three reactor rooms.
“IAEA experts still do not have access to all parts of the plant and for two weeks they have also been denied access to the reactor rooms in units 1, 2 and 6,” the IAEA said in a statement.
“This is the first time that IAEA experts will not have access to the reactor room of a plant that is in a cold shutdown state,” IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi added in the statement.
Since last year, the IAEA has had observers on the site of the six-reactor Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe.
The reactor core and spent fuel can be found in the reactor rooms, Grossi emphasizes in the statement.
Five reactors in cold shutdown condition
Five of the six reactors are in a cold shutdown state, meaning they are not producing energy, while one is in a hot shutdown state to produce steam and heat for the nearby town of Enerhodar, where most of the plant's employees live.
On the other hand, the IAEA emphasizes that, at the insistence of its observers, the power plant has carried out work on its reserve transformers to ensure permanent and immediate power supply.
According to Grossi, this is a “significant advance” as it allows independence and redundancy in the power plant’s energy supply system, although the power plant’s situation remains “extremely fragile.”
In recent weeks, IAEA observers have heard regular explosions some distance from the facility, “underscoring the dangers it continues to face,” the IAEA Director General's statement concluded.
Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and captured the area around the Zaporizhia power plant a few days later.
jc (efe, Portal)