IAEA head speaks about tense situation around ZNPP

The situation around the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant (ZNPP) continues to be tense and unstable while hostilities are ongoing nearby the facility. Raphael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), warned on December 5.

"The situation is still tense because the conflict is ongoing and fighting is still going on in the region. While the military operation is going on close to the nuclear power plant, we cannot say that the situation is stable or better than a few months ago. <...> There is a possibility of a missile hitting it," he pointed out during an international conference on the development and peaceful uses of atomic energy in Samarkand.

Grossi added that he is also deeply concerned about the power supply situation at the ZNPP. He intends to discuss this issue with the Russian and Ukrainian sides in the near future.

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Earlier, on December 1, it was reported that the high-voltage power supply line "Ferrosplavnaya-1" at Zaporizhzhya NPP was disconnected by a protection action. After that, the NPP's own needs were powered from the 750 kV line "Dniprovska". Later, on the same day, the 330 kV high-voltage power supply line "Ferrosplavnaya-1" was put back into operation.

Before that, on November 20, Grossi said that the situation at ZNPP was unstable. According to him, all six reactors of the plant are still in cold shutdown mode. On this basis, the agency continues to insist that none of them should be restarted as long as threats to the nuclear and physical safety of ZNPP remain.

After, on 21 November, the Russian permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, said that IAEA experts at ZNPP were not coping satisfactorily with fixing provocations by Ukraine. He noted that the agency's report presented information in a one-sided and distorted manner, and glossed over important facts.

Zaporizhzhya region, where the nuclear power plant is located, became part of the Russian Federation following a referendum in September 2022. Since then, Zaporizhzhya NPP has been under constant IAEA control.