“As a result of periodic bombings, the station’s infrastructure has been damaged and there is a risk of hydrogen leakage and pulverization of radioactive substances,” Energoatom reports.
The State Nuclear Energy Company of Ukraine, Energoatomannounced that the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant has been operating since midday today with the risk of leaks and fire, following bombings that the Ukrainians and Russians have blamed on each other for several weeks.
Russian troops have bombed the area “repeatedly over the last 24 hours,” the national Ukrainian company reported on Telegram today.
“As a result of periodic bombings, the station’s infrastructure has been damaged and there is a risk of hydrogen leakage and pulverization radioactive substances“, he said, citing an “increased fire risk”.
According to the company, from today at 12:00 noon (local time and Greek time) the station “operates with the risk of violating the safety rules in the field of radiation and fire”.
Russia, for its part, accused Ukraine of firing 17 shells in the area of ​​the station, the largest in Europe, during the last 24 hours. “Four fell on the roof of the building (…) where 168 Westinghouse nuclear fuel packages are located,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement, adding that shells also fell on a spent fuel storage area and near a another that contained “recent fuel”.
According to the Russian military, the Ukrainian military launched this fire from positions around the town of Markhanet, opposite the station, on the opposite side of the Dnieper River which is still under Kiev’s control.
AFP notes that it could not independently confirm these statements.
The Zaporizhia station, home to six of Ukraine’s 15 reactors, was seized by Russian troops in early March, shortly after the invasion began on February 24, and is close to the front line in the south.
Kyiv and Moscow accuse each other of shelling the area of ​​the complex, near the town of Enerhodar, on the Dnieper River, endangering the station.
Between Thursday and Friday the station and its six reactors of 1,000 megawatts each were “completely disconnected” from the national grid due to damage to power lines, according to Kyiv.
Energoatom then announced that “one of its reactors that had stopped operating the previous day was reconnected to the power grid” yesterday, Friday, at 14:04. The reactor that was reconnected “produces electricity for the needs of Ukraine” and “is in the process of increasing its power”, the company clarified.
The occupying authorities of Enerhodar, for their part, yesterday again blamed the Ukrainian troops.
Experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) are expected at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant “next week,” according to energy minister adviser Lana Zerkal, who accused the Russians of “artificially impeding” that mission, which Russia denies. Moscow.
As a result of the war between Russia and Ukraine, which entered its seventh month on Wednesday, the sanctions imposed on Russian oil and Moscow’s partial shutdown of gas supplies at this stage, energy prices have soared across Europe and the continent is gearing up for a tough winter.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Smykhal warned in a Telegram message today that “this warming season will certainly be the most difficult in the history of independent Ukraine.” “The main danger is Russian terrorist actions against critical infrastructure,” he said.
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