Russian shelling disrupts Ukrainian nuclear power plants: IAEA warns of nuclear danger

Three nuclear power plants located in Ukrainian-controlled territory reduced the capacity of several reactors due to military actions last Saturday.

This is stated in the IAEA statement released on December 11.

As noted, the outages led to fluctuations in output power, temporary outages, and forced shutdowns at some units.

In some places, to maintain grid balance and prevent equipment damage, units were taken out of service or operated at reduced capacity.

In addition, the agency considers the situation with the Ukrainian grid and energy supply to remain one of the biggest nuclear safety concerns.

“As the Seven Essential Pillars of Nuclear Security in Armed Conflict clearly state: all nuclear facilities must have a secure external power supply from the grid. Too often, this is far from the reality seen by our experts on the ground,” said IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi.

Despite this, he emphasized, the nuclear safety systems of the South Ukrainian, Rivne, and Khmelnytskyi NPPs continue to function properly, and emergency power sources remain available.

“The IAEA team is visiting more than 10 electrical substations this month following recent attacks targeting key energy infrastructure. The mission […] is assessing damage, reviewing repair efforts, and identifying practical steps to enhance the resilience of the country’s external power sources,” Grossi noted.

Recall that previously, two Ukrainian nuclear power plants – Khmelnytskyi and Rivne – operated at reduced capacity for more than ten days due to a Russian attack that damaged a substation important for their security.

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