Europe’s largest nuclear power plant is “completely out of control” and urgent action needs taking to prevent a catastrophic disaster.
That is the warning from Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), of the facility in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, which was seized by the Russian army following their invasion in February.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky insisted it could be “the end of Europe” should an explosion occur at the plant, with Grossi pleading with Vladimir Putin to let an IAEA mission proceed in order to undertake crucial safety checks and repairs of the sprawling complex.
“What is at stake is extremely serious and extremely grave and dangerous,” said Grossi, ominously. “Every principle of nuclear safety has been violated.
“You have a catalogue of things that should never be happening in any nuclear facility.”
He added: “And this is why I have been insisting from day one that we have to be able to go there to perform this safety and security evaluation, to do the repairs and to assist as we already did in Chernobyl.
“If an accident occurs at Zaporizhzhia, we will not have a natural disaster to blame – we will have only ourselves to answer to. We need everyone’s support.
“While this war rages on, inaction is unconscionable.”
Grossi then issued an emotional appeal to both Ukrainian and Russian authorities.
He added: “I’m pleading as an international civil servant, as the head of an international organisation, I’m pleading to both sides to let this mission proceed.”
The nuclear power plant lies dangerously close to the fighting zones and was hit by shelling in March, with Zelensky insisting that the potential devastation from a shelling-induced blaze could have equalled six Chernobyls.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken accused Russia earlier this week of using the plant, based in the south-eastern city of Enerhodar, as a military base to launch attacks on Ukrainian forces.
But a Russian-installed official in the region told Reuters news agency that Ukrainian forces were using Western-supplied weapons to attack the plant, which is thought to still be operated by Ukrainian staff.
And therein lies a problem as there have been moments of friction and violence between the Russians and Ukrainians involved at the plant.
The Russian-controlled administration in the Zaporizhzhia region is headed up by Yevgeny Balitsky and he revealed that officials were keen to show the IAEA how Russians were “guarding the plant while Ukrainians were using weapons, including drones, to attack it”.
But Washington hit back at the claim, saying Russian forces were using the nuclear power plant as a “nuclear shield”, with Blinken saying: “Of course the Ukrainians cannot fire back lest there be a terrible accident involving the nuclear plant.”
In 1986, northern Ukraine was the site of the world's worst nuclear disaster when a reactor at the Chernobyl plant exploded.
Russian forces also seized Chernobyl, 65 miles north of Kyiv, soon after the invasion on February 24 this year, but withdrew after five weeks.
