IAEA: Russia could eventually restart Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant

Russia could eventually restart the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which it occupied in southeastern Ukraine, but it shares international observers’ view that doing so now could be dangerous. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi said this today. The AP and Reuters news agencies report.

“Of course, they intend to resume operations at some point. They are not going to decommission this nuclear power plant. So that is what makes a discussion necessary,” Grossi said at a press conference in Vienna, where the IAEA Board of Governors is meeting.

He said he got a sense of Russia’s position last week when he met Rosatom chief Dmitry Likhachev in Kaliningrad.

Before the plant can be restarted, several steps need to be taken, Grossi said, including ensuring a more stable electricity supply. This will require repairs to existing power lines, which he said are currently difficult to envisage. Another basic condition is that the nuclear facility is not attacked.

Russia and Ukraine have repeatedly accused each other of shelling the plant. In April, a drone even exploded on the plant’s site, which the IAEA described as a serious incident with the potential to threaten the integrity of the reactor protection system. “Attacks and frequent disconnections from power lines… due to military activities are creating a serious situation,” Grossi noted today.

The Zaporizhzhia plant is the largest in Europe and one of the ten largest nuclear power plants in the world. Although all six of its reactors are shut down, it still needs power and qualified staff to operate essential systems, such as those used to cool the reactors.