Nuclear Alarm: IAEA Races to Broker 8th Zaporizhzhia Ceasefire
In a statement on US social media company X, the agency said it had been told of a string of drone attacks in recent weeks that “further threatened nuclear safety and security” at the ZNPP.
The agency said strikes on Sept. 19, 20 and 27 hit the nearby Zaporizhzhia Thermal Power Plant (ZTPP) and damaged transformers that are important for supplying off-site power to the ZNPP. The plant has suffered frequent external power outages during the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
“To enable necessary repairs at the ZTPP, IAEA DG @rafaelmgrossi is negotiating a new localized ceasefire with both sides with the aim for it to take effect very soon. It would be the eighth such IAEA-brokered ceasefire to help secure off-site power for the ZNPP,” the statement said.
A separate attack on Sept. 22 “reportedly disabled an off-site radiation monitoring station, reducing the capability to monitor radiation levels near the ZNPP,” the IAEA said. Other strikes hit buildings in the nearby city of Enerhodar, home to many of the plant's staff.
“DG Grossi says attacks endangering nuclear safety and security remain completely unacceptable and must cease immediately,” it went on to say.
“In order to prevent the risk of a nuclear accident during the conflict, all sides must exercise maximum military restraint near such facilities and their power infrastructure installations, DG Grossi says,” it added.
Tension around the ZNPP, Europe's largest nuclear power plant and one of the world's 10 largest, remains high amid persistent fears of a nuclear disaster, with Moscow and Kyiv frequently accusing each other of attacks around the facility.
IAEA personnel have been stationed at the plant since Sept. 1, 2022. The facility has been under Russian control since March 2022.
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