Russia and Ukraine accused each other of starting a fire at the dormant Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine on Sunday, but both sides reported no sign of elevated radiation.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) nuclear watchdog said its staff had seen thick, dark smoke coming from the northern part of the vast six-reactor plant in southern Ukraine, currently in “cold shutdown”, after multiple blasts.
“These reckless attacks endanger nuclear safety at the plant and increase the risk of a nuclear accident. They must stop now,” IAEA chief Rafael Grossi warned in a separate statement, without attributing blame.
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The fire comes less than a week after Ukraine’s forces launched their largest incursion into Russian territory since the war started in 2022.
Interfax news agency quoted Alexei Likhachev, head of the Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom, as saying the fire had burned for about three hours and caused “very serious damage” to the cooling towers.
He said, without providing evidence, that it had been caused by two Ukrainian drone strikes. It was not clear whether the damage was reparable or whether one of the towers might need to be replaced, he added.
Ukraine’s nuclear power company Energoatom said in a statement that one of the cooling towers and other equipment were damaged.
Grossi said the IAEA had requested “immediate access” to the tower to assess the damage. There was no immediate response from Moscow or Kyiv to Grossi’s statement.
Russia captured the plant from Ukraine shortly after launching a full-scale invasion of its smaller neighbour in 2022, which it calls a “special military operation”.
Smoke appears to billow from cooling tower
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy accused Russia of lighting the fire, which he said was visible from the Kyiv-held city of Nikopol, overlooking the Russian-held plant. It started at around 8 p.m. (1700 GMT) on Sunday.
The IAEA said no impact on nuclear safety had been reported.
“Team was told by (the nuclear plant) of an alleged drone attack today on one of the cooling towers located at the site,” it wrote on X.
Ukraine’s Energoatom said Russian “negligence” or arson could have sparked the fire. Without providing evidence, it also said Russia used the cooling towers to store military equipment and explosives.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused Kyiv of deliberately trying to destroy the plant and sow “nuclear terror”.
Zelenskiy published grainy video showing black smoke apparently belching out of a cooling tower with a fire burning at its base.
“Currently, the radiation indicators are normal. But as long as Russian terrorists retain control over the nuclear plant, the situation is not and cannot be normal,” he said.
The six dormant reactors, located close to the front line of the war, rely on external power to keep their nuclear material cool and prevent a catastrophic accident.
Moscow and Kyiv have routinely accused each other of endangering safety around the plant.
(Reporting by Tom Balmforth and Yuliia Dysa; Writing by Lidia Kelly and Mark Trevelyan; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
