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Explainer: Ukrainian nuclear plant shelled: Here's what we know

2022-11-22
Pic: a view shows the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict outside Enerhodar in the Zaporizhzhia region, Russian-controlled Ukraine, October 14, 2022. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko

Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is under Russian control, was rocked by shelling on Sunday, drawing condemnation from the U.N. nuclear watchdog which said such attacks risked a major disaster.

Repeated shelling of the plant in southern Ukraine has raised concern about the potential for a grave accident just 500 km (300 miles) from the site of the world's worst nuclear accident, the 1986 Chornobyl disaster.

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said the plant came under the most intense shelling of recent months on Saturday, shortly after 6 p.m. local time, and on Sunday at 9:15 a.m.

There were more than a dozen blasts within 40 minutes, according to the IAEA.

IAEA experts reported "damage in several places, including a radioactive waste and storage building, cooling pond sprinkler systems, an electrical cable to one of the reactors, condensate storage tanks, and to a bridge between another reactor and its auxiliary buildings".

External power supplies were not affected and radiation levels at the plant remained normal, the IAEA said.

The biggest risk is from overheating nuclear fuel, which could happen if the power that drives the cooling systems was cut. Shelling has repeatedly cut power lines.

Source:https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/close-call-ukrainian-nuclear-plant-2022-11-21/ By Guy Faulconbridge

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