Ukrainian officials are so concerned about a potential nuclear disaster at the Zaporizhzhia power plant — currently under Russian control — they have begun distributing iodine tablets to nearby residents.
It comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the situation at the plant is still "very risky" after it was disconnected for the first time ever due to shelling.
Two of its six reactors have since been reconnected, but authorities are still on edge as the stability of the power supply and the ongoing safety of those around the plant remains unclear.
Here's what we know about the situation in Zaporizhzhia at the moment.
What happened to the plant?
The plant was temporarily knocked offline on Thursday local time due to what officials say was fire damage to a transmission line.
Zelenskyy said the plant's emergency backup diesel generators had to be activated to supply electricity to operate the complex.
The plant requires power to run the reactors' vital cooling systems, and a loss of cooling could lead to a nuclear meltdown.
Satellite images from Planet Labs show fires burning around the complex — Europe's biggest nuclear plant — over the last several days.
Continued shelling was reported in the area into Friday.
For Ukrainians still haunted by the 1986 explosion at Chernobyl, the incident heightened fears of another nuclear disaster.
Ukraine's transmission system operator Ukrenergo confirmed two damaged main lines supplying the plant with electricity had resumed operation, ensuring a stable power supply.
The country's nuclear power agency, Energoatom, said the plant was again producing electricity "for Ukraine's needs".
"The nuclear workers of Zaporizhzhia power plant are real heroes!" the agency said in a statement referring to the Ukrainian staff still operating the plant.
"They tirelessly and firmly uphold the nuclear and radiation safety of Ukraine and the whole of Europe on their shoulders."
But Russia-installed officials in the Zaporizhzhia region disputed that, saying the plant was supplying electricity only to Russia-controlled areas of the country and not the rest of Ukraine.
What are people in Zaporizhzhia doing?
Authorities began distributing iodine tablets to residents based near the Zaporizhzhia plant on Friday, in case of a radiation leak.
Iodine tablets help block the absorption of radioactive iodine by the thyroid gland in a nuclear accident.
They were offered in the city of Zaporizhzhia, about 45 kilometres from the plant itself, which is currently under the control of Ukraine.
Local media has reported that Ukraine is planning evacuations from Zaporizhzhia, as well as Kharkiv and Mykolaiv.
The Zaporizhzhia plant has been occupied by Russian forces and run by Ukrainian workers since the early days of the war, which has now dragged on for six months.
The two sides have repeatedly accused each other of shelling the site and, in this latest incident, Ukraine and Russia again blamed one another for the transmission line damage that knocked the plant off the power grid.
What happens now?
The UN's atomic energy agency has been trying to send a team in to inspect and help secure the plant, but it's not clear when that might take place.
Officials from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said preparations for the trip were underway.
Mr Zelenskyy said in his nightly address on Friday that it's crucial for the IAEA visit to take place as soon as possible "to keep the nuclear power plant under Ukrainian control on a permanent basis."
It comes as a UN agreement to review the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty was blocked by Russia on Friday.
The document needed approval by all 191 countries that are parties to the treaty, which is aimed at curbing the spread of nuclear weapons.
There are multiple direct references in the document to the Zaporizhzhia plant, which if agreed upon would have parties to the treaty express "grave concern for the military activities" at or near the facility and other nuclear plants.
The Russian Foreign Ministry’s Non-Proliferation and Arms Control Department's deputy director Igor Vishnevetsky insisted that many countries, not just Russia, didn't agree with "a whole host of issues" in the 36-page draft.
It also would have recognised Ukraine's loss of control and the IAEA's inability to ensure the plant's nuclear material was safeguarded, and supported IAEA efforts to visit Zaporizhzhia.
The draft expressed "grave concern" at the safety of Ukraine’s nuclear facilities and stressed the "paramount importance of ensuring control by Ukraine’s competent authorities".
ABC/wires
