Enerhodar: The head of the United Nation’s nuclear power watchdog warned that the situation in Russia-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear station has become potentially dangerous as Moscow-installed officials began evacuating people from nearby areas.
The director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi has called for measures to ensure the safe operation for Europe’s largest nuclear plant as evacuations were underway.
Meanwhile, Russia’s governor of the Moscow-controlled part of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region said that orders for evacuation of villages close to the front line as shelling had been intensified. A widely expected Ukrainian spring counter-offensive against Russian forces is viewed as likely to take in the region, which is 80% held by Moscow.
Zaporizhzhia nuclear station is located in the southeastern Ukraine now occupied by Russia. It is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe and among the 20 largest in the world. It was built by the Soviet Union on the southern shores of the Kakhovka Reservoir on Dnieper river. The plant has six VVER-1000 pressurized light water nuclear reachtors each fuelled with LEU and generating 950 MW for a total power of 5700 MW.
The plant was providing nearly half of the Ukraine’s electricity requirements until March 4, 2022 when the nuclear and thermal power stations were captured by Russian forces during the Battle of Enerhodar and as of March 12, 2022 it has been controlled by Russian Company Rosatom.