UN Nuclear Watchdog Warns of Imminent Risk at Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine is dangerously close to suffering an accident because of recent attacks on it, Rafael Grossi, the chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), warned Monday, April 15.

Zaporizhzhia NPP, Europe's largest nuclear power facility, has been under Russian control since the invasion began in 2022.

It's been non-operational since then due to repeated shelling attacks. Starting from April 7, the plant has faced drone attacks, the first direct assaults since November 2022.

"These reckless attacks must cease immediately," Grossi told a meeting of the UN Security Council.

"Though, fortunately, they have not led to a radiological incident this time, they significantly increase the risk at Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, where nuclear safety is already compromised," he added.

Asked later by reporters about the perpetrators of the attacks, Grossi said "it is simply impossible" to ascertain.

Grossi highlighted that the attack on the reactor confinement structure is particularly concerning.

He warned that two years of war have severely undermined nuclear safety at Zaporizhzhia, endangering all aspects of safety and security according to the IAEA's criteria.

"We cannot sit by and watch as the final weight tips the finely balanced scale," he warned.

"We are getting dangerously close to a nuclear accident. We must not allow complacency to let a role of the dice decide what happens tomorrow," he said.

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He stressed the urgent need to prevent a nuclear accident, emphasizing that the risk remains high even with the reactors offline.