Fire reported after attack on Europe’s largest nuclear power plant

During Russia’s war against Ukraine, the plant of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant near the city of Zaporizhia is said to have been shelled. According to the Ukrainian authorities, a training building near the plant of the nuclear power plant caught fire. The fire was brought under control around 6:20 a.m. (local time).

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke of targeted fire from Russian tanks. “Europe needs to wake up now,” said Zelenskyy in a video message published on Telegram on Friday. 

He also recalled the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster. “Right now Russian tanks are shelling the reactor blocks,” Zelensky said. Ukraine demanded the closure of the airspace. “These are tanks equipped with thermal imaging cameras. That means they know where they’re shooting, they’ve prepared for it,” said the head of state. These statements could not initially be verified independently. 

Smoke and flames can be seen in a video from the plant in the southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, which was also shared on social media. News agencies were initially unable to independently verify the situation around Zaporizhia and the severity of the fire.

Radiation safety guaranteed according to authorities

The Russian news agency RIA, citing a spokesman for the power plant, reported that the values ​​for radioactive radiation had not changed. US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm confirmed this. The reactors are secured by a robust protective cover and will be shut down, she wrote on Twitter. 

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna announced that the fire on the site of the nuclear power plant did not affect essential equipment and that the power plant personnel are taking damage limitation measures. 

Warnings of a disaster

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi spoke to Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Schmyhal about the “serious situation” during the night. The authority called for the violence to stop and warned of “serious dangers if reactors are hit”.

Ukraine called for an immediate end to the attacks on the nuclear power plant. “If it explodes, it will be ten times bigger than Chernobyl! Russians must stop firing immediately,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on Twitter on Friday night. 

There are several nuclear facilities in Ukraine. On April 26, 1986, one of the worst catastrophes in the peaceful use of nuclear energy occurred in the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. After the explosion of a reactor block of the nuclear power plant, radioactive substances spread over large parts of Europe over several days.

With its six reactor blocks, the Zaporizhia power plant is the most powerful in the EU and generates around a quarter of Ukraine’s electricity generation.

Washington and London demand an end to the fighting

After a phone call with Zelenskyy, US President Joe Biden called on Russia to end its military activities in the area around the nuclear power plant. The Russian army must allow firefighters and rescue workers access to the site, Biden said. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said his government had called for an emergency UN Security Council meeting.

The fighting must be stopped immediately for security reasons, the mayor of the city of Enerhodar, Dmytro Orlov, demanded via the Telegram news service. In the city is the nuclear power plant, named after the metropolis of Zaporizhia, 50 kilometers away. Orlov previously reported about 100 Russian military vehicles in the area. The information could not initially be verified independently.

Russia claims it wants to ‘protect’ nuclear facilities

Moscow had informed the IAEA that Russian units had taken control of the area around the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant. From the point of view of the IAEA, the plant itself is also under Russian control, although the operation is continued by Ukrainian employees and under the supervision of the authorities in Kyiv.

Russia’s military seizure of Ukraine’s nuclear facilities has been condemned by the IAEA’s governing body. According to diplomats, a corresponding resolution of the IAEA Board of Governors was only rejected by Russia and China. According to the resolution, the risk of a nuclear accident with international repercussions had increased significantly in the course of the Russian invasion.

Sources used: News agencies AFP, Reuters and DPA