The situation at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant in Ukraine, the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant, which was occupied by the Russian military in March, is causing growing concern among experts. On August 5, the Ukrainian “Energoatom” reported on the repeated bombings of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant. “Three ‘arrivals’ were recorded right at the station site, near one of the power units where the nuclear reactor is located”, the nitrogen-oxygen station and auxiliary building were seriously damaged. There is a risk of hydrogen leakage and radioactive spraying, the fire hazard is high,” said the company’s communication line.

IAEA: “Most Security Measures Violated in ZNPP”

The facility is “completely out of control” of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi told the AP Aug. 3.

According to him, “if not all, then most” of the security measures were breached at the plant occupied by the Russian military. That leaves the Zaporozhye nuclear plant “extremely vulnerable” to a reactor meltdown, warns Sean Burney, a nuclear technologist at Greenpeace East Asia. If the station loses power due to a possible increase in hostilities in the area, backup generators and batteries will not be enough to cool not only the six reactors, but also large reservoirs of highly radioactive spent fuel, warns the expert.

Are Russian troops hiding behind the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant?

Another concern is that Russian forces could use the nuclear plant as a weapons depot and cover for attacks. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken told a UN meeting on nuclear non-proliferation this week that Russia is using a nuclear facility as “the equivalent of a human shield”.

Such actions violate article 56 of the Geneva Convention for the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, which states that special care must be taken if “installations and installations containing dangerous forces” are located close to the site of hostilities. According to some reports, there are around 500 Russian servicemen on the premises.

When fighting broke out in the vicinity of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant in early March, it was the first time in recent history that war had come so close to a major nuclear facility. Since Russian troops occupied the plant in mid-March and allowed Ukrainian personnel to continue working, news from Zaporozhye, where three reactors continue to operate, has been intermittent.

“Violation of all possible safety rules” at nuclear power plants

Recently, there has been a growing concern that plant safety and operation are not being maintained at the proper level. “(It happens. – Red.) a combination violation of every imaginable safety rule,” IAEA Director General Grossi told DW in late July.

“Is it true that explosives and other materials are stored near the reactors?” asks Rafael Grossi, commenting on reports that the Russian military is launching missiles in the vicinity of the nuclear plant to make retaliation impossible due to the extreme threat of an accident. . “I was trying to set up a technical mission under my direction to go out there and solve various problems,” Grossi told DW. But, according to him, access to the site is impossible without the escort of UN peacekeepers. The IAEA Director General is discussing this issue with the UN Secretary General, António Guterres.

So far, the IAEA has only “fragmentary” contacts with facility personnel. Grossi is also concerned that essential equipment, including spare parts for reactor maintenance, cannot be delivered due to disrupted supply chains. “We’re not sure the station is getting everything it needs,” he warned.

How Russia treats Ukrainian nuclear plant personnel

The organization is also concerned that the Ukrainian personnel at the nuclear plant, under the command of the Russian occupiers, will not be able to properly perform their duties and face threats of violence. The head of the Ukrainian “Energoatom” Petr Kotin claims that since the capture of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, the Russian military has kidnapped up to 100 employees of the nuclear power plant. “Of these people, only a few return to work with a broken psyche, having declared that they love the Russian world because of the torture the invaders inflict on them,” Kotin said on the Suspilny air.

Greenpeace spokesman Sean Burney is convinced that it is vital that local officials retain their positions and can work safely at nuclear plants. Although Russia has more than twice as many reactors as Ukraine, most of them are older models, so Russian engineers don’t have enough experience to service the latest technologies at Zaporozhye, Burney said.

The expertise of local personnel will also come in handy during regular flooding on the Dnieper River, which flows close to the nuclear plant and can damage dams and reservoirs that provide cooling for reactors.

An example of Chernobyl: what was the nuclear power plant after the occupation of the Russian Federation

Sean Burney’s concern only increased after visiting the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which Russia seized in the early days of the Ukraine invasion and controlled for just over a month before pulling back on March 31.

In Chernobyl, the Greenpeace team found a contaminated exclusion zone filled with mines that prevented effective monitoring of the area. In addition, vital equipment for monitoring the state of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was destroyed, damaged or stolen during the Russian occupation, concludes Burney.