After Greenpeace expressed worries about Moscow erecting electricity lines close to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station, a UN nuclear watchdog inspector said they haven’t seen any indications that Russia is taking any action to restart the plant right away.
Amid concerns about a possible nuclear disaster, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has focused on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station, the biggest of its kind in Europe, during the conflict in Ukraine.
Although it isn’t generating electricity, Russia has controlled the plant since the beginning of the conflict as Moscow launched a full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Ukraine controls the city of Zaporizhzhia, which is located roughly 440 kilometers southeast of the capital Kyiv. Because the front line is so close, attacks have taken place near the plant.
Power line construction:
According to a study published by Greenpeace on Tuesday, satellite images revealed that Russia has been constructing “an electricity high voltage power line” in Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia districts that are under Russian control.
Shaun Burnie, a nuclear specialist at Greenpeace Ukraine, said in a statement, “This is some of the first hard evidence of Russian moving forward with its dangerous and illegal plans for restarting Ukraine and Europe’s largest nuclear plant at Zaporizhzhia.”
When questioned about the Greenpeace report, an IAEA official stated that the agency’s inspectors had not observed any significant modifications at the Zaporizhzhia plant that would indicate Russia was getting ready for an impending attempt to restart it.
“What I can say is our teams continue to confirm there is no indication at the moment that there will be any active preparations for a restart of the plant now,” the official spoke about the IAEA’s assessment while remaining anonymous.
Russia hasn’t acknowledged the power line project. Ukraine sent a note to the IAEA and its membership on Wednesday raising concerns about the power line construction.
Ukraine wrote, “These actions constitute a flagrant breach of international law and an infringement on Ukraine’s sovereignty.”
“The construction of this transmission line is a clear indication of the Russian Federation’s intent to initiate an unauthorized restart of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, a facility that remains the sovereign property of Ukraine.”
It stated that “Any operation of the (plant) without explicit authorization of the Ukrainian nuclear regulator is illegal and poses a direct and unacceptable threat to nuclear safety.”
Russia has already proposed reopening the Zaporizhzhia plant. Rafael Grossi, the director general of the IAEA, told reporters on Wednesday that the topic might come up during his next trip, which he is planning to go to Ukraine and possibly Russia.
“We are going to be continuing our discussions with both, in particular with the Russians on this idea of (the) restart of the plant,” Grossi stated.
Despite being in a so-called cold shutdown, which means that nuclear reactions have ceased, Zaporizhzhia’s six reactors are still powered by uranium.
The plant depends on external electricity to keep its reactor cool and power other safety systems, but this external power has been cut off several times during the war, forcing the plant to rely on diesel generators on-site.
Source: Euro News
