Ukraine: the Zaporijjia nuclear power plant endangered by a total power cut – FRANCE 24

Published on: 09/09/2022 – 19:00 The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported on Friday a “total power outage” in the Ukrainian city of Energodar, where the plant is located Zaporizhia nuclear power station, a situation which “compromises the safety of operations”. For his part, the director of the public company Energoatom denounced the abuses committed in recent months against the Ukrainian personnel of the plant by the Russian forces occupying it. “This is totally unacceptable. This cannot continue,” IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said in a statement on Friday, September 9, calling for “an immediate cessation of bombing in the area” of the nuclear power plant. of Zaporizhia. For weeks, confusion has reigned around the largest power plant in Europe, occupied by the Russians, which has been hit by multiple strikes for which kyiv and Moscow accuse each other. “The electricity infrastructure supplying the city was destroyed by strikes at the thermal power plant, causing a total cut off of water and electricity,” explained Rafael Grossi, informed by the two experts from the UN body present on the spot. “Given the intensification of the bombardments which are incessant, it is unlikely that it will be possible to restore a reliable off-site power supply for the plant”, added the head of the IAEA, who had visited the site in early September. help sUnder these conditions, the Ukrainian operator Energoatom “plans to close the only reactor in operation”, which currently produces the electricity necessary for cooling the nuclear fuel and the safety of the site. If necessary, all the The plant’s systems will have to rely on emergency diesel-powered generators, the Vienna-based agency warns. maintaining the security of the site may no longer be available. A few days after an alarmist report, Rafael Grossi reiterates his concern: “It is an unsustainable and increasingly fragile situation.” In the statement, he again calls for the establishment of a security zone around the plant. Russian troops took control of the plant in early March, which has six nuclear reactors with a capacity of 1,000 megawatts each and which produced 20% of Ukrainian electricity before the Russian invasion. Russia accused of abuses against staff Russian forces on staff, citing torture, murder and kidnapping.”With the occupation, a regime of police harassment of staff was gradually put in place. The situation today is very difficult, with torture, beatings tobacco, kidnappings,” Petro Kotin told AFP in an interview. According to him, two people were “beaten to death” by Russian forces. “A diver was captured, then he found himself in the hospital unconscious. He died three hours later”, while a bombardment killed another employee and a driver, he continues. “The Russians are looking for the pro-Ukrainians on the spot and persecute them. People are psychologically broken, “explains Petro Kotin, head of the public company Energoatom, which manages the Ukrainian power stations. “We do not know where a dozen people are. were taken away and, since then, we have no information on their whereabouts”, he continues. Russia systematically denies committing abuses in Ukraine, accusing the Ukrainian authorities of committing crimes against the population, using civilians as human shields. With AFP