Kyiv: The fire at Europe’s biggest nuclear plant ignited by Russian shelling has been extinguished, Ukrainian authorities said Friday. They also said that the Russian forces have taken control of the nuclear plant. Ukraine’s state nuclear regulator said that no changes in radiation levels have been recorded so far at the plant site. It said staff is studying the site to check for other damage to the compartment of reactor No. 1 at the Zaporizhzhia plant in the city of Enerhodar.
The regulator noted in a statement on Facebook the importance of maintaining the ability to cool nuclear fuel. It said the loss of such ability could lead to an accident even worse than 1986 Chernobyl accident, the world’s worst nuclear disaster, or the 2011 Fukushima meltdowns in Japan. It also noted that there is a storage facility for spent nuclear fuel at the site. However, there was no sign that facility was hit by shelling.
The head of the United Nations’ atomic agency Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi however, said that the building hit was a training centre and there is ‘nothing to worry’.
His statement contradicts the one made by nuclear plant spokesman Andriy Tuz. He told Ukrainian television overnight that shells fell directly on the facility, and set fire to reactor that is not operating and to an administrative training building.
Grossi said there has been no release of radiation and that the fire had been extinguished. He said two people on the site were injured in the fire.
The shelling of the plant came as the Russian military pressed their attack on a crucial energy-producing Ukrainian city. They gained ground in their bid to cut off Ukraine from the sea. As the invasion entered its second week, another round of talks between Russia and Ukraine yielded a tentative agreement to set up safe corridors to evacuate citizens and deliver humanitarian aid.
Also read: Russian forces seize Ukrainian nuke plant
Leading nuclear authorities were worried — but not panicked — about the damage to the power station. The assault, however, led to phone calls between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US President Joe Biden and other world leaders. The US Department of Energy activated its nuclear incident response team as a precaution.
The Zaporizhzhia regional military administration said that measurements taken at 7.00am Friday (0500 GMT) showed radiation levels in the region ‘remain unchanged and do not endanger the lives and health of the population’.
The mayor of Enerhodar, Dmytro Orlov, announced on his Telegram channel Friday morning that ‘the fire at the (nuclear plant) has indeed been extinguished’. His office said that the information came from firefighters who were allowed onto the site overnight.
In an emotional speech in the middle of the night, Zelenskyy said he feared an explosion that would be ‘the end for everyone. The end for Europe. The evacuation of Europe’. “Only urgent action by Europe can stop the Russian troops,” he said. “Do not allow the death of Europe from a catastrophe at a nuclear power station.”