Ukraine nuke plant ‘safe’ after blaze
VIENNA—The UN nuclear agency said on Sunday that a fire at the Zaporizhzhia atomic power plant in southern Ukraine did not appear to represent a threat to nuclear safety.
“IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) experts witnessed strong dark smoke coming from ZNPP’s (Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant) northern area following multiple explosions heard in the evening,” the agency said on X, formerly Twitter, referring to the ZNPP.
“Team was told by ZNPP of an alleged drone attack today on one of the cooling towers located at the site,” added the statement from the IAEA.
Both Russia and Ukraine reported the fire there earlier Sunday, each blaming the other for the incident.
Ukraine, Russia and the IAEA said there had been no detected spike in radiation levels or any impact on nuclear safety.
“As a result of shelling of the town of Energodar by the Ukrainian armed forces, there was a fire at a cooling system of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station,” Yevgeny Balitsky, the Russian-installed governor of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, said on Telegram.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a social media post that “Russian occupiers have started a fire” at the plant, accusing them of trying to “blackmail” Kyiv.
“Currently, radiation levels are within the norm,” he added.
Balitsky and the facility’s press service also reported the “radiation background” around the facility was normal.
Cold shutdown
“No impact has been reported for nuclear safety,” the IAEA, which has experts stationed at the plant, said.
It said the plant had reported to them an “alleged drone attack today on one of the cooling towers.”
“Russia must be held accountable for this. Only Ukrainian control over the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant can guarantee a return to normalcy and complete safety,” Zelenskyy said.
Ukraine’s interior minister said Kyiv was “intensively monitoring” radiation levels from nearby meteorological stations.
All six of its units are currently in cold shutdown, the plant’s press service said after the incident.
“There is no threat of a steam explosion or any other consequences,” Balitsky said, adding that firefighters were on site battling the blaze.
A video published by Zelenskyy showed black smoke billowing out of one of the station’s cooling towers as red flames licked around the bottom.
Russia seized control of the plant just days after it launched its full-scale military offensive in February 2022.
The site is on the eastern bank of the Dnipro river—a de facto front line snaking through southern Ukraine.
Ukrainian ‘shelling’
Ukraine controls the opposite bank and Russia has repeatedly accused its forces of deliberately shelling the nuclear power station—claims denied by Ukraine.
Kyiv, in turn, has accused Moscow of militarizing the facility, including by placing heavy weapons there at the start of the conflict.
The IAEA has repeatedly urged restraint, saying it fears reckless military action could trigger a major nuclear accident at the plant.
Fire hit the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant as Zelenskyy announced that Ukrainian forces began an offensive in Russia’s Kursk region to “pressure” the Kremlin.
“Today, I received several reports from Commander in Chief (Oleksandr) Syrskyi regarding the front lines and our actions to push the war onto the aggressor’s territory,” he said late on Saturday.
“Ukraine is proving that it can indeed restore justice and is ensuring the exact kind of pressure that is needed—pressure on the aggressor,” he added.
Russia on Sunday acknowledged Ukrainian troops had pierced deep into the Kursk border region in an offensive that a top official in Ukraine said aimed to “destabilize” Russia and “stretch” its forces.
Kyiv has deployed thousands of troops to the surprise operation, a Ukrainian security official told Agence France-Presse (AFP), seizing the battlefield initiative after months of slow Russian advances across the east.
