The UN atomic watchdog warned of a potential threat to nuclear safety due to a spike in fighting near Europe’s largest nuclear power plant in Ukraine as the forces of the war-torn country continued pressing their counteroffensive on Saturday.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said its experts deployed at the Russia-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant reported hearing numerous explosions over the past week, in a possible indication of increased military activity in the region. There was no damage to the plant.
“I remain deeply concerned about the possible dangers facing the plant at this time of heightened military tension in the region,” IAEA director general Rafael Mariano Grossi warned on Friday.
He noted that the IAEA team was informed that staff at the plant had been reduced temporarily to minimum levels due to concerns about more military activity in the area. “Whatever happens in a conflict zone, wherever it may be, everybody would stand to lose from a nuclear accident.”