The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) called on Tuesday for a security and safety zone around Europe’s biggest nuclear power station, describing extensive damage inspectors had found at the plant on the front line in the Ukraine war.
A long-awaited report did not ascribe blame for damage at the Zaporozhzhia nuclear power plant, which Russia and Ukraine accuse each other of shelling. The plant is controlled by Russian forces but operated by Ukrainian technicians.
Inspectors said they had found Russian troops and equipment at the plant, including military vehicles parked in turbine halls. They also said conditions for Ukrainian staff operating the plant should be improved to reduce the likelihood of errors.
“Ukrainian staff operating the plant under Russian military occupation are under constant high stress and pressure, especially with the limited staff available,” the IAEA report said. “This is not sustainable and could lead to increased human error with implications for nuclear safety.”
IAEA inspectors led by the agency’s chief, Rafael Grossi, braved shelling to cross the front line and reach the plant on Friday. Two experts have stayed on to maintain a long-term presence at the site.
Moscow and Kyiv on Tuesday accused each other of risking catastrophe by shelling the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in southern Ukraine as they awaited the report.
Russia and Ukraine have for weeks accused each other of endangering its safety – and that of Europe – by shelling the site and surrounding areas. But until now, no independent third party has been able to establish who has inflicted what damage on the plant.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday warned of a near “radiation catastrophe” at the plant and said Russia’s shelling of it showed Moscow “does not care what the IAEA will say.”
He was speaking after IAEA officials, citing information supplied by Ukraine, said the sole remaining reactor had gone offline after the plant’s backup power line had been cut to extinguish a fire.
They said the line itself had not been damaged and would be reconnected and that the plant had enough electricity to operate safely. The reactor would be reconnected to the grid once backup power was restored.
Russia, which has questioned why it would shell its own forces who it says are guarding the plant, on Tuesday accused Ukrainian troops of bombarding the facility, Europe’s largest, a day earlier.
Russia’s diplomatic mission to international organizations in Vienna, where the IAEA is based, said on Telegram that three Ukrainian shells had landed near the plant’s fuel storage unit, solid radioactive waste storage and near one of the power units.
It published images of shell impacts to back its assertion.
Reuters could not verify either side’s claims.
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