IAEA chief "deeply concerned" about ZNPP situation

In an update released on Friday regarding the situation of Ukraine, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Mariano Grossi, said he was "deeply concerned" about the situation at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant.

This was reported on the agency's website, Ukrinform saw.

Grossi said he “saw clear indications of military preparations in the area” when he visited the ZNPP just over three weeks ago. “I’m deeply concerned about the situation at the plant.”

IAEA experts present at the ZNPP heard gunshots almost every day for the past week. At one point, they were ordered to take cover at the site due to the potential danger posed by the ongoing hostilities in the region.

The director general added that agency experts stationed at the station often reported about hearing detonations, "sometimes suggesting intense shelling not far from the site."

Grossi said the agency's recent reports to headquarters in Vienna further underscored the serious risks to nuclear safety and security facing the ZNPP.

In addition to nuclear safety risks, ZNPP continues to rely on the only remaining functioning 750 kV power line for the external electricity it needs for reactors cooling and other essential functions. Before the start of Russia's war against Ukraine, there were four such off-site power lines at the plant.

Plant management informed the IAEA that the scope of maintenance performed during outages on all units in 2022 was reduced due to reduced maintenance staff, the absence of external contractors and a lack of spare parts. Currently, only about a quarter of full-time maintenance staff is available while the plant has no maintenance plan in place.

The IAEA team has also identified extensive damage to windows in the turbine hall of Unit 4.  

As Ukrinform reported earlier, on April 15, Grossi discussed the importance of protecting the Zaporizhia NPP with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu.