IAEA recorded shelling near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. What is known

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) recorded shelling near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP) occupied by Russia.

This is stated in the Agencyʼs report dated September 16.

The Agency team received a report from the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia NPP that several artillery shells had fallen outside the plant, approximately 400 meters from the external diesel fuel storage facility.

This caused vegetation to catch fire, the IAEA team was told, but the fire was under control. This information was consistent with the Agencyʼs own observations of shelling that was heard for about two hours, including three explosions near the station.

From the main administration building of ZNPP, the team observed smoke from areas outside the facility. IAEA says it has not yet been able to visit the site of the alleged attack, but plans to request such a visit this morning, if the security situation permits.

What is the situation at ZNPP?

Currently, ZNPP is connected to only one external power supply line, which poses a serious risk.

Energoatom explained that if the only working line fails, it will mean that Zaporizhzhia NPP will lose external power supply to the station and will start emergency diesel generators. But their resources are limited both in terms of operating time and the availability of diesel fuel. Thus, the launch of diesel generators means the beginning of the countdown to the start of nuclear fuel melting.

In addition, according to IAEA, the water level in the cooling pond at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant has now dropped to 13.4 m and is approaching the critical level of 12 m — if the water level drops below this level, the cooling systems will stop working. All six reactors are currently in a cold shutdown state, and under current conditions, it is impossible to safely start even one of them.

• The Russians occupied ZNPP in early March 2022 and have been operating under their control since then. An IAEA mission has been at the station since September 2022. Ukraine insists on the withdrawal of the Russian occupiers from the station. Russia refuses to create a demilitarized zone at ZNPP.
• In September of this year, Putin stated that the Russian Federation is ready to cooperate with the United States and Ukraine on the issue of the Zaporizhzhia NPP. According to him, “if favourable circumstances arise, we have discussed this with our American colleagues, we can even work together at the Zaporizhzhia NPP”. Back in March of this year, the Russians stated that the Zaporizhzhia NPP is a Russian nuclear facility, and transferring control over it to Ukraine or any other country is impossible.
• In April, Reuters published a US peace plan that proposed that Ukraine regain control of ZNPP. The US would operate the plant and supply electricity to Ukraine and Russia. In response, Ukraine and the EU presented their own plan — in which Ukraine would regain control of the plant with the participation of the US, Russia is not mentioned in this issue.

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