IAEA concerned over wildfire near Russian-occupied nuclear plant

Intense forest fires observed outside the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, temporarily occupied by Russia, becomes another challenge facing Europe's largest NPP, jeopardizing its external power supply.

That’s according to the IAEA press service, Ukrinform reports.

"On several occasions over the past week, the IAEA Support and Assistance Mission to Zaporizhzhya (ISAMZ) observed several fires at various distances from the ZNPP and nearby villages. Over the weekend, the IAEA experts observed smoke coming from an area to the north of the ZNPP near the ZTPP inlet channel," the report reads.

It is noted that the fire was under the overhead cables of the Dniprovska 750 kilovolt (kV) line and the Ferosplavna 1,330 kV backup power line – the last two remaining external power lines for the ZNPP.

"As the summer heat continues, such fires along the pathways of the two remaining lines place the ZNPP at risk of loss of external power. While there was no disconnection of either line on this occasion, the situation highlighted the fragility of off-site power at the ZNPP," the IAEA wrote.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, the IAEA’s permanent monitoring mission, deployed at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant occupied by the Russians since September 2022, completed another staff rotation.

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