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Evacuations have been taking place around the Zaporijjia nuclear power plant since this Friday, May 5th, and the AEIA fears a “serious nuclear accident”.
UKRAINE – The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) warned this Saturday, May 6, of the risk of a “serious nuclear accident” at the Zaporijia power plant occupied by Russian forces in Ukraine. The situation around the site is “potentially dangerous,” and the nearby town, where most of the staff lives, is under full evacuation, the agency said.
“The situation around the Zaporijjia nuclear power plant is becoming increasingly unpredictable and potentially dangerous,” warned the agency’s head, Rafael Grossi, in an IAEA press release. “I am extremely concerned about the very real risks to the facility in terms of safety and security. We must act now to prevent the risk of a major nuclear accident and its consequences for people and the environment,” he added.
This facility, the largest in Europe, has been the target of several shots since the conflict began, raising fears of a catastrophe.
Partial evacuations that worry
Agency experts who are on the scene continue to hear the sound of shells in the area, the latest dated Friday evening, the statement said. They are closely monitoring the situation to “detect potential nuclear safety and security implications,” Grossi said.
“This large nuclear facility needs to be protected. I will continue to urge all parties to commit to this vital goal and the IAEA will continue to do everything in its power to help ensure the nuclear safety and security of the facility,” he said.
On Friday, Moscow-appointed regional manager Evguéni Balitski announced a partial evacuation of 18 places under Russian occupation in the Zaporijjia region, particularly in Energodar.
But this is cause for concern. Ivan Fedorov, Mayor of Melitopol, denounced too rapid an “evacuation” on Telegram on Saturday. Huge queues formed at the Chongar checkpoint on the road from Melitopol to Crimea, he said. The same goes for Tokmak, where bread-buying lines are getting longer and most gas stations are out of gas.
These, according to Yevgeny Balitsky, are “temporary” evacuations, primarily affecting children with their parents, the elderly and disabled, and hospitalized patients amid the escalation of Ukrainian bombings in recent days.
The workforce at the plant is decreasing
Russian authorities are planning to evacuate about 70,000 people from locations in the Zaporizhia region they are occupying, said another occupation administration official, Andrei Kozenko, quoted by TASS agency.
But there are no plans to evacuate workers at the nuclear power plant, whose six reactors have been shut down, said Yuri Tchernichuk, the site’s director appointed by the Russian authorities, on Saturday.
The workforce at Zaporijjia has been gradually declining since the start of the conflict, the IAEA press release said, and management of the site is ensured by a sufficient number of staff to ensure the site’s security, according to Russian authorities.
The Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, which has been under the control of the Russian army since March 2022, is located on the banks of the Dnieper River, which separates the two camps in this area.
Rafael Grossi had already warned in mid-April that we were “on loan” regarding the “safety” of the facility. And although the reactors are not operational, an emergency power line they rely on is still operational, which the same source says is “a major risk”. That line was damaged on March 1 and was still unrepaired by mid-April, the IAEA said.
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