IAEA warns of rising military activity near Ukrainian nuclear plants

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has warned of increased military activity near Ukraine’s nuclear power plants, including the Chornobyl site and the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP).

The warning was issued in an IAEA statement, CE Report quotes Ukrinform.

The agency noted that military activity had been reported by IAEA teams stationed at three Ukrainian-controlled nuclear power plants – Khmelnytskyi, Rivne, and South Ukraine – as well as at the Chornobyl site.

According to IAEA specialists, more than 100 drones were detected within observation zones around the facilities over the past two weeks, some of them as close as two kilometers from the sites. In particular, the IAEA team at the Rivne Nuclear Power Plant was forced to shelter on the morning of June 3, while the agency’s team at the Chornobyl site heard gunfire multiple times in response to the detection of drones.

Over the same two-week period, the IAEA team at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant was informed of ongoing military activity near the facility, including a drone strike on the turbine hall of Unit 6 on May 30. During inspections conducted in the following days, IAEA experts identified a hole in a wall and localized damage to the metal cladding of an empty pipe located several meters away. Plant officials said they plan to patch the hole while specialists continue assessing the affected area.

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi stated that “attacking nuclear sites is like playing with fire.”

“This is the first time since April 2024 that military activity has directly impacted the ZNPP site,” he added, calling for maximum restraint around nuclear facilities during wartime.

In addition, the IAEA team is monitoring mine-clearing work being carried out to enable urgent repairs to the last remaining main power line of the ZNPP.

The repair work is expected to begin in the coming days and is considered particularly urgent given the vulnerable condition of the plant’s only remaining backup external power line. Since March, that line has been disconnected six times, leaving the station entirely dependent on emergency diesel generators to provide the electricity needed to cool its six reactors and prevent a nuclear accident.

As reported, on June 5, the International Atomic Energy Agency announced that it had helped broker a temporary local ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia to allow repairs to the power line supplying the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.

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