Comment KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine’s nuclear power company warned Sunday that rocket attacks at the site of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant risked a “nuclear catastrophe” as the governments of Russia and Ukraine swapped blame for explosions at the facility. For days, experts have warned that heavy fighting around the Zaporizhzhia plant in southeastern Ukraine posed a serious threat, but Saturday’s reported strikes near the plant’s spent fuel storage facilities raised even greater alarm. “This is particularly dangerous because these buildings are not built with the same kind of reinforced concrete that the reactor containment building is,” said Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association. “These places were not designed as fortresses against external missile or artillery strikes.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged a “stronger response from the international community” after the attacks and said he had spoken to Charles Michel, the president of the European Council, to seek further sanctions on Moscow’s nuclear industry. He accused the Kremlin of “nuclear terrorism”. The local government of Enerhodar, where the plant is located, which is located in Russia, accused Ukraine of hitting the facility using a 220 mm Uragan multiple rocket launcher system. “The administrative buildings and adjacent land of the warehouse were damaged,” it said in a statement given to Interfax News. The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Mariano Grossi, said the situation posed a dire threat to public health and the environment in Ukraine and far beyond its borders. On Sunday he asked to be allowed to visit the site with a team of nuclear experts. “We can put together a security, safety and safeguards mission and provide the necessary assistance and impartial assessment that is required,” he said in a statement. But the possibility of an immediate visit seemed remote as fighting intensified in the disputed region. The shelling also damaged radiation monitoring sensors at the facility and injured at least one worker, Ukraine’s state nuclear power company Energoatom said. “This time a nuclear disaster was miraculously averted, but miracles can’t last forever,” the company said in a statement on Sunday. At least 174 containers of spent nuclear fuel are stored at the site, which is Europe’s largest nuclear power plant. According to Energoatom, Russian troops “specifically targeted” the containers. The Zaporizhzhia plant has been under Russian control since March, but is run by Ukrainian workers. According to the company, the damage to the technology at the facility meant that “it is not yet possible to detect and react in time in the event of a worsening radiation situation or radiation leakage from spent nuclear fuel containers,” it said. Russia initially seized the facility after one of its missiles sparked a fire at the plant complex, sparking concerns about the safety of Ukraine’s four nuclear facilities that have continued in the months since. The ongoing fighting is unprecedented in military history, experts said. “This is the first time in the history of the nuclear age that a large nuclear power plant for an extended period of time has been in the middle of an active war zone,” Kimball said. He warned that power loss at the plant is also a major threat. “Each of these power plants has a certain number of days that they have backup diesel power generation for,” he said. Zelensky on Friday cited the Zaporizhia attack as another reason why Moscow should be recognized as a “state sponsor of terrorism,” something it has repeatedly called for since Russia invaded Ukraine in late February. Russia’s defense ministry in turn said protection from Russian-backed forces was the reason the plant was not more extensively damaged. Ukraine live update: Fresh shelling around nuclear plant as UN warns of possible ‘catastrophe’ UN watchdog warns of ‘nuclear disaster’ from Zaporizhia plant bombing Hassan reported from London. Praveena Somasundaram in Washington contributed to this report.
