Fire alert at Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, Ukraine

A fire broke out on Sunday, August 11, in the cooling tower of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine, which is under the control of Russian forces, but it does not pose a safety impact, Russian authorities and the IAEA said.

Ukraine and Russia have blamed each other for the incident. Both countries said no increase in radiation levels was detected around the plant, which has been occupied by Russian troops since the start of their military offensive in Ukraine two and a half years ago.

Bombing caused the fire

“The shelling of the city of Energodar by the Ukrainian armed forces caused a fire in the cooling system,” the pro-Russian governor of the region, Yevgeny Balitsky, said on Telegram.

The Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, is located in Energodar, along the Dnieper River, which represents the natural front line between the belligerents.

On Sunday evening, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which has a team of experts on site, said that “no impact on nuclear safety” had been reported following the fire.

IAEA experts “saw thick black smoke coming out of the northern area” of the site after hearing “multiple explosions overnight,” the UN agency said in a statement.

The IAEA also said that the plant informed it of “an alleged drone attack on one of the cooling towers.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on social media that “the Russian occupiers started a fire” at the plant. “Currently, radiation levels are within normal limits,” he added.

“We have received information from Nikopol that the Russian occupiers have started a fire on the territory of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant. The radiation levels are within normal limits. However, as long as Russian terrorists maintain control of the nuclear power plant, the situation is not and cannot be normal,” President Zelensky wrote.

Governor Balitsky also noted that “environmental radiation” around the site was normal.

The plant’s six units are currently stopped as a security measure.

The Ukrainian Interior Minister said he was “closely monitoring” the situation from surveillance stations near the plant.

Heavy weapons inside the perimeter

“There is no danger of steam explosion or other consequences,” he said.

In a video posted by Zelensky, a column of black smoke can be seen rising from one of the plant’s cooling towers.

Ukraine accuses Russia of having militarized the site by installing heavy weapons within the perimeter of the plant.

The IAEA has repeatedly urged restraint amid fears that reckless military action could lead to a major nuclear accident at the plant.

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