UN’s nuclear watchdog on Wednesday said the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Plant in Ukraine has been cut off from its external power supply for the second time in five days.
Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said “this repeated loss of [Zaporizhzhya’s] off-site power is a deeply worrying development and it underlines the urgent need for a nuclear safety and security protection zone around the site.’’
According to IAEA, without external power, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant has enough fuel from diesel generators to run its cooling systems for about 10 days and prevent a nuclear accident.
The sprawling complex in south-eastern Ukraine has been the site of fierce fighting.
Its last operating reactor was shut down in September but the risk of the disaster remains as the atomic material still needs to be kept cool to avoid a meltdown.
Grossi, who met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday in St Petersburg, has been calling for a “safety and security zone” to be set up around the nuclear plant.
