The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Raphael Grossi, issued a dramatic warning yesterday Thursday, referring to the risk of a nuclear disaster in Zaporizhia, Ukraine, where the largest nuclear power plant in Europe is located.

“If we don’t act to protect the station, our luck will run out sooner or later, with potentially serious consequences for public health and the environment,” Grossi said in a statement released in Vienna, where the IAEA is headquartered. .

“We are living on borrowed time when it comes to the security of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant,” Grossi warned, stressing that the situation is out of control due to ongoing hostilities near the facility (which Russian forces have occupied since March 2022), attributing largely to sheer luck that no nuclear accident has occurred.

Two mine explosions occurred a few meters from the fence of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, the first last Saturday and the second on April 12, the statement noted.

Grossi had visited Kaliningrad last week, where he expressed his concern to Russian officials. It was preceded by his visit to the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, the second since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency warned on Thursday that the plant, home to six nuclear reactors, depends on just one power line remaining operational, which represents a “major risk to nuclear safety”. He adds that the second power line, which was damaged on March 1, has not yet been repaired.

The International Atomic Energy Agency does not fail to highlight the shortages of qualified personnel that have been reported at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant.