An external radiation monitoring station was destroyed near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP) temporarily occupied by the Russians. This reduced the ability to detect and measure any radioactive release in the event of an emergency.
This was reported by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The loss of one radiation monitoring station does not directly affect the safety of the ZNPP. However, it shows how the stationʼs safety regulations are continuously deteriorating, and this worries the IAEA.
The monitoring station is located approximately 16 kilometers southwest of the ZNPP. They lost contact with it on Monday, June 24. Due to shelling, IAEA staff were unable to gain access to the site to confirm the damage.
Since the beginning of 2022, several radiation monitoring stations in a 30-kilometer zone around the ZNPP have been out of service for various periods of time due to damage. Before the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation, a total of 14 stations were operating, but now 4 of them are unavailable.
Just a few days before the announcement of the destruction of the station, the nearby town of Energodar was without electricity for 16 hours. According to the IAEA, several monitoring stations did not work due to the fact that they ran out of backup battery power. IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi emphasized that the operation of external radiation monitoring equipment is an important part of nuclear safety around the world.
- The ZNPP was occupied by the Russian military at the beginning of March 2022 and has been operating under their control since then. The station was completely disconnected from the power grid several times. From September 2022, the IAEA mission is stationed at the station. Ukraine insists on the withdrawal of the Russian occupiers from the station. President Volodymyr Zelensky emphasizes that while Russian soldiers are at the ZNPP, "the world remains on the brink of a nuclear disaster." Russia refuses to create a demilitarized zone at the ZNPP.
- In June 2024, the IAEA stated that all principles of nuclear safety were violated at the occupied ZNPP.