Ukraine’s Zelensky says nuclear radiation crisis narrowly avoided at Russian-held Zaporizhzhia plant
- The Ukrainian president said the last regular line supplying power to the facility was restored hours after being cut by nearby fires
- Moscow and Kyiv have accused each other of shelling the site, fuelling fears of a nuclear disaster
President Volodymyr Zelensky said the world narrowly avoided a radiation disaster as the last regular line supplying electricity to Ukraine’s Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was restored hours after being cut.
Zelensky blamed shelling on Thursday by Russia’s military for fires in the ash pits of a nearby coal power station that disconnected the reactor complex, Europe’s largest such facility, from the power grid. He said backup diesel generators ensured power supply and kept the plant safe.
“If our station staff had not reacted after the blackout, then we would have already been forced to overcome the consequences of a radiation accident,” he said in an evening address. “Russia has put Ukraine and all Europeans in a situation one step away from a radiation disaster.”
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) officials should be given access to the site within days, he said, “before the occupiers take the situation to the point of no return.”
Ukrainian state nuclear company Energoatom said it had been the first complete disconnection in the plant’s history. Electricity is used for cooling and safety systems.