IAEA chief announces urgent steps to protect Zaporizhzhia NPP

Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) must be urgently protected, as it has lost the last remaining external power source due to renewed shelling.

The relevant statement was made by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi, an Ukrinform correspondent reports, referring to the IAEA's press release.

"The resumption of shelling, hitting the plant's sole source of external power, is tremendously irresponsible. The Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant must be protected. I will soon travel to the Russian Federation, and then return to Ukraine, to agree on a nuclear safety and security protection zone around the plant. This is an absolute and urgent imperative," Grossi said.

All the plant's safety systems continue to receive power and are operating normally, relying on emergency diesel generators, the IAEA experts were informed by senior Ukrainian operating staff at the site.

According to the IAEA, although the six reactors are in cold shutdown, they still require electricity for vital nuclear safety and security functions. The plant's diesel generators each have sufficient fuel for at least ten days.

A reminder that, on the night of October 8, 2022, due to shelling by Russian troops, Zaporizhzhia NPP was fully disconnected from external power sources.