ZNPP reactors should not be restarted until war ends - IAEA chief

This was stated by IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi in an introductory statement to the Agency's Board of Governors meeting in Vienna on Monday, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

"The situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant remains precarious. Regular explosions, drone attacks, gunfire; repeated interruptions of external power supply, among other challenges, increase the risk of a nuclear accident," Grossi said.

He recalled that on August 11, a fire ignited inside one of the plant’s cooling towers. The damage incurred may require the tower to be demolished, the IAEA chief added.

"The cooling towers currently are not required as part of the cooling mechanism while all ZNPP’s six reactor units remain in cold shutdown. In line with the Agency’s advice, it is understood that no reactor will be re-started as long as the conflict continues to jeopardize the nuclear safety and security of the plant," said the official.

According to Grossi, his agency’s work at the ZNPP remains essential to reducing the possibility of a nuclear accident.

Separately, Grossi emphasized IAEA’s “more proactive stance” on monitoring Ukraine’s vital electrical substations, which are “essential to the safety of its nuclear power plants”.

As reported, all six reactors at the Zaporizhzhia NPP were put in cold shutdown for the first time since the end of 2022. Power unit 4 was switched to this mode in the morning of April 13.

The ZNPP has been under Russian control since March 4, 2022. Throughout this time, the Russians repeatedly violated the principles of nuclear and radiation safety, mining the territory of the plant, preventing qualified personnel from working on the site, and cutting off from the Ukrainian energy grid power lines feeding the NPP.

Since September 2022, the IAEA mission has been permanently deployed at the plant while the Russians restrict experts’ access to certain facilities on the site.