IAEA chief voices concern over reported drone strike at Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant

Vienna: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi expressed serious concern over a reported drone strike on a turbine building at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), warning that attacks on nuclear facilities are “like playing with fire.”

The IAEA said it had been informed by the ZNPP that a drone struck a turbine building at the facility earlier in the day, reportedly causing a hole in one of the building’s walls. The agency disclosed the incident in a post on social media platform X.

“There should be no attacks of any kind from or against a nuclear facility,” Grossi said, reiterating his call for restraint to avoid jeopardizing nuclear safety and security.

He added that the IAEA team stationed at the plant had requested access to the affected turbine building to conduct a first-hand assessment of the reported damage, Xinhua news agency reported.

According to the IAEA, the incident would mark the first drone attack within the perimeter of the ZNPP since April 2024.

The Zaporizhzhia plant, one of Europe’s largest nuclear power facilities, has been under Russian control since March 2022. Since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the IAEA has repeatedly warned of the risks posed by military activities around the site and called for the protection of nuclear infrastructure.

Russia’s Rosatom said on Saturday that a Ukrainian drone had struck the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, but no damage to key equipment was reported.

The Ukrainian drone struck the turbine island of Unit 6 of the power plant and exploded earlier on Saturday. The International Atomic Energy Agency has since been notified of the attack.

“Such strikes on nuclear facilities are extremely irresponsible and pose grave threats to nuclear security. Any attack on a nuclear plant’s infrastructure may trigger unpredictable consequences and endanger regional safety,” the plant stated on its social media account, adding that there were no casualties or serious damage.

Rosatom CEO Alexey Likhachev said this was the first targeted strike against a nuclear plant’s key equipment that caused a blast and inflicted damage on the turbine island structure.

IANS