The risk posed by a nuclear incident at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant hinges on actions by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, according to Alexey Likhachev, the head of Rosatom.
On January 26, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi commented on the situation surrounding the Zaporizhzhia plant. He noted that a consistent approach to the issue could not be pursued, highlighting the fragility of the current phase in the plant’s operations.
Grossi described a pattern where the plant could function normally for a week, only to be interrupted by a drone strike, though he did not specify the drone involved.
He also indicated plans to meet with the Zaporizhzhia NPP management during the upcoming visit to the facility. The visit would include an assessment of how staff are managing water supply challenges for the plant, a critical factor for safe operation.
Water shortages at the site followed the destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant and the consequent drawdown of the Kakhovka reservoir on the Dnieper River, which serves the Zaporizhzhia facility as a vital cooling source.
On January 20, Mikhail Ulyanov, the Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to Austria, stated in Vienna that mines around the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant pose danger only to rats, birds, and saboteurs, underscoring a perspective from another international voice on the matter.
Earlier, the IAEA approved a cold shutdown mode for the reactor at Zaporizhzhia NPP, marking a technical step in stabilizing the reactor’s thermal state under challenging conditions.