Head of a state company nuclear power her Ukrainian called “fake news” statements by Moscow that the occupied Russia its nuclear power plant Zaporozhye he will need Russian fuel.

The head of Energoatom, Pyotr Kotin, said in an exclusive interview with Reuters that the six-reactor nuclear power plant will have enough fuel for two years, and Ukrainian employees still operate it.

Kotin also said that the personnel face forced conscription into the Russian army.

“This is simply an unprecedented situation for … the largest nuclear power plant in Europe,” Kotin said from his office, behind which hangs a large photo of the plant.

He spoke after a spokesman for the Russian nuclear energy company Rosenergoatom said, according to the Russian news agency TASS, that the power plant would use Russian fuel as soon as its stocks were depleted.

“False statements” of the Russians

“There are… false claims by the Russians,” Kotin said. “It’s all a lie. But simply transferring the fuel used in Zaporozhye from one supplier to another is not easy. Therefore [οι Ρώσοι] they lie,” said Kottin.

“Just preparing for this transition from one supplier to another takes about three years,” Kotin said.

In June, Ukraine signed an agreement to receive fuel for its nuclear power plants from the US company Westinghouse, whose fuel powers four units in Zaporozhye, and end dependence on Russian supplies.

All six of the Zaporozhye reactors are currently in cold shutdown mode, extending the life of their fuel and further eliminating the need for supplies from Russia, Kotin said.

Ukraine and Russia accuse each other of bombing the plant site, raising fears of a catastrophe that could release radioactive plumes across the region or melt down a reactor.

Kotin denied that Ukraine was shelling the station area.

At least one Ukrainian staff member was injured and facilities were damaged, including damage to power lines feeding reactor cooling systems, the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said. IAEA observers have been at the facility since September.

Fear of turning off external power supply

The station is in the southern Zaporozhye region, one of the partially occupied regions that this month President Vladimir Putin declared part of Russia, in a move condemned by the West.

Putin also declared Zaporozhye state property, which Kotin dismissed as being aimed at covering up “the success of the Ukrainian armed forces” in pushing Russian troops out of large swathes of territory since September.

Putin, he said, should withdraw his troops from the station and agree to the IAEA’s proposal to create a demilitarized zone around its facilities. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky today again called for the demilitarization of the station.

Kottin said his biggest fears are the loss of off-site electricity needed to cool the reactors and the loss of emergency diesel generators that only have 10 days of fuel, posing a catastrophic meltdown risk.

“This is the biggest threat at the moment, because they have damaged all the lines connecting the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant with the Ukrainian energy system,” he said.

Deputy director of the station went missing

Kotin said he had no knowledge of the whereabouts or condition of the station’s deputy director, Valery Martynyuk, who was taken prisoner by Russian troops this week.

“We don’t have any information yet,” Kottin said. Earlier this month, the IAEA helped Russia secure the release of a former station commander.

According to Kotin, about 7,000 Ukrainians now work at the station, compared to the usual 9,500, and they are under a lot of psychological pressure.

Last week, he said, the Russians threatened to forcibly recruit personnel into the Russian armed forces unless they signed contracts to work for Rosatom, Russia’s state-owned nuclear company. Reuters was unable to independently verify this claim.

“None of the staff should sign anything,” Kottin said.

^{Source: APE-MEB, Reuters}