IAEA concern after explosions heard near Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant
His comments came after the agency's experts stationed at Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which has been under Russian military control since early March 2022, heard explosions and saw smoke at a nearby location.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) staff at the plant were told by its operators that an auxiliary facility about 1,200 metres from the plant site's perimeter had been struck by shelling and drones on Saturday morning, with smoke still visible from the location in the afternoon.
Grossi said: "Any attack in the vicinity of a nuclear power plant - regardless of the intended target - poses potential risks also for nuclear safety and must be avoided. Once again, I call for maximum military restraint near nuclear facilities to prevent the continued risk of a nuclear accident."
The Zaporizhzhia plant is situated near the frontline of Russian and Ukrainian forces. As well as direct security risks - IAEA staff have reported hearing military activity regularly in recent weeks at different distances from the plant - it also continues to rely on one external power line, compared with the 10 lines it had before the conflict. If that external power line is lost, it has to rely on emergency back-up diesel generators to provide the power required for essential safety functions.
IAEA teams at the Khmelnitsky, Rivne and South Ukraine nuclear power plants in Ukraine - as well as at Chernobyl - have also heard regular air raid sirens over recent weeks, and drones were detected within a few kilometres of plants, the IAEA has reported.
