IAEA calls on Russia, Ukraine to exercise restraint near nuclear facilities

The IAEA observation team recorded the downing and explosion of a Russian UAV near the South Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), in connection with which the IAEA published a communiqué on the agency’s official website.

“A drone was downed and detonated approximately 800 metres from the perimeter of Ukraine’s South Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant overnight, in the latest close call underlining constant dangers to nuclear safety during the military conflict, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said after receiving information about the incident from the IAEA team at the site,” the report notes.

The team was informed by the plant that 22 unmanned aerial vehicles were observed late last night and early this morning within its monitoring zone, some coming as close as half a kilometre from the site. South Ukraine is one of the country’s three operational nuclear power plants (NPPs), its three reactors currently generating electricity at full capacity.

“From their accommodation near the plant, IAEA team members heard gunfire and explosions around 01:00 am local time and today they visited the location where one of the drones had come down, observing a crater measuring four square metres at the surface and with a depth of around one metre. Nearby metal structures had been hit by shrapnel and the windows of vehicles close to the impact area were shattered, the team reported. A 150 kilovolt (kV) regional power line was also damaged, the plant said, though it was not connected to the NPP and there was no direct impact on nuclear safety and security. There were also no reports of casualties,” the IAEA describes the course of events according to information from the observer group.

“Once again drones are flying far too close to nuclear power plants, putting nuclear safety at risk. Fortunately, last night’s incident did not result in any damage to the South Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant itself. Next time we may not be so lucky. I continue to urge both sides to show maximum military restraint around all important nuclear facilities,” the agency quotes IAEA Director General Grossi.

“Occurring only some 30 hours after Ukraine’s Zaporizha Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) suffered its tenth complete loss of offsite power (LOOP) duriing the conflict, the latest drone incident made it clear that the nuclear safety and security situation remains extremely fragile while the conflict continues,” the report notes.

The ZNPP has now been without external power for more than 48 hours, making it the longest of the plant’s ten complete LOOP events. It is currently relying on emergency diesel generators for the electricity it needs to cool its six shutdown reactors and other essential nuclear safety and security functions.

“For more than four months, the ZNPP had been dependent on a single power line for offsite power, compared with ten lines before the conflict. This sole remaining power line was damaged around 1.5 kilometers from the ZNPP due to military activities and disconnected at 4:56 pm on Tuesday, according to information from the plant. The IAEA team based at the ZNPP has not yet been able to visit the damaged line due to the military situation,” the IAEA reports.

The agency also reports on statements from the occupation administration of the ZNPP and from the Ukrainian side about the availability of the necessary spare parts and personnel to repair the line, “once the military situation permits.”