The sustained presence of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) at the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) has been essential to our ongoing efforts to reduce the risk of a nuclear accident amid the conflict, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said, as the IAEA approaches three years of continuous presence at the site.
Over the past week, the IAEA team at the ZNPP reported hearing military activities almost every day, and the IAEA teams present at the Khmelnytskyy, Rivne and South Ukraine NPPs and the Chornobyl NPP site heard air raid alarms nearly every day, as well.
On Thursday morning, the IAEA team at Chornobyl was awakened by the sound of multiple explosions. They were later informed that several drones were detected above the Exclusion Zone, approximately 5 kilometres from the site, and the sounds the team heard were anti-aircraft fire.
"My position remains unchanged. I'm deeply concerned about the increased frequency of reported drone activity near nuclear facilities," Director General Grossi said. "I renew my call for maximum military restraint to prevent a nuclear accident."
Over the weekend, the IAEA team based at the ZNPP was informed of a newly constructed dam to isolate one of ZNPP's channels from its cooling pond. This channel currently supplies water for the cooling of several plant systems, such as unit transformers that provide power to the site's six reactor units, which is needed for the operation of their safety systems.
The ZNPP's six reactors have been in cold shutdown since spring 2024 but still require cooling water for their safety systems, reactor cores and spent fuel pools. While the ZNPP continues to use water from the groundwater wells on site for the cooling of these essential services, the dam was constructed to preserve the water in the channel to provide cooling for other plant systems that are needed to maintain the ZNPP in safe shutdown for extended periods of time.
The IAEA team has also been informed that the site is pumping water from the cooling pond into the isolated part of this channel and that the current water level in the channel is more than a meter above the point where cooling pumps would cease to operate. The ZNPP is also considering other options for supplying power to its reactor units to maintain the operation of its safety systems, as well as other measures for the cooling of the unit transformers.
"This underscores the ongoing challenges in ensuring reliable cooling water for the ZNPP's six reactors and their safety systems needed to maintain long-term cold shutdown. The potential loss of cooling resulting from the depletion of the water in this ZNPP channel represents a real concern with respect to nuclear safety, which is a priority for the IAEA," Director General Grossi said.
"The IAEA teams will continue to request access to the new isolation dam and will monitor this situation extremely closely," he added.
The ZNPP has been connected to a single off-site power line for over three months. The IAEA teams will continue to monitor the external power situation, which continues to be extremely fragile. This is now the longest period of time when the site has not had a back-up power line.
At Ukraine's three operating NPPs, two of their nine reactors are shut down for maintenance and refuelling, which includes work on some off-site power lines.
Over the past weekend, two reactor units had their power levels reduced due to grid limitations. Both have since returned to nominal power levels.
