Ukraine, Russia trade more blame on threats to nuclear plant

Fears about the potential for a radiation leak at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant persisted on Sunday as both sides swapped blame for nearby shelling. Ukraine said Russian forces fired on areas just across the river from the plant and Russia claimed Ukrainian shells hit a building where nuclear fuel is stored.

Authorities were distributing iodine tablets to residents who live near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in case of radiation exposure, which can cause health problems.

Much of the concern centres on the cooling systems for the plant’s nuclear reactors. The systems require power to run, and the plant was temporarily knocked offline on Thursday because of what officials said was fire damage to a transmission line. A cooling system failure could cause a nuclear meltdown.

Russian forces took control of the plant soon after the war began and hold adjacent territory along the left bank of the wide river. Ukraine controls the right bank, including the cities of Nikopol and Marhanets, each of them about 10km (six miles) from the plant.

The Ukrainian and Russian governments have repeatedly accused the other of shelling the complex and nearby areas, raising fears of a possible catastrophe.

Heavy firing during the night left parts of Nikopol without electricity, said Valentyn Reznichenko, governor of Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region. Rocket strikes damaged about a dozen residences in Marhanets, according to Yevhen Yevtushenko, the administration head for the district that includes the city of about 45,000.

The city of Zaporizhzhia, about 40km upriver from the nuclear plant, also came under fire during the night, wounding two people, city council member Anatoliy Kurtev said.

Periodic shelling had damaged the power station’s infrastructure, Ukraine’s nuclear power operator, Energoatom, said on Saturday. “There are risks of hydrogen leakage and sputtering of radioactive substances, and the fire hazard is high,” it said.