Nuclear plant fears linger
Workers at Ukraine’s largest nuclear power plant have reconnected it to the country’s electricity grid, restoring power to neighbouring cities and paving the way for a visit this week by the United Nations atomic watchdog.
The repairs to restore energy transmission at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant have eased fears, at least temporarily, of a potentially disastrous breakdown that experts said could result from a prolonged disruption.
The giant nuclear plant, which is the largest in Europe and is located in territory currently occupied by Russian forces, has become a source of acute worry over a potential civilian disaster but also a pawn in the military conflict.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has underscored the risk of a nuclear accident as an urgent reason for demanding the withdrawal of Russian forces from Enerhodar, the city where the plant is located, and the surrounding region of Zaporizhzhia.
Russia, which has been laying groundwork for a staged referendum and planned annexation of the region, wants the international inspectors to observe a nuclear facility that the Kremlin claims is functioning safely due to the presence of Russian troops.
Russia’s deputy foreign minister has called his country’s forces the only guarantee against a ‘‘Chernobyl scenario’’ – a somewhat ironic position given that Moscow was in charge of Soviet Ukraine when the
Chernobyl reactor meltdown occurred in 1986.
Kyiv wants the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) visit to highlight the dangers of Russia’s continued occupation of the plant, which lost power on Friday after fire damaged its last functioning transmission line.
Negotiations surrounding the visit are nearing completion following a crescendo of international alarm in response to near-daily chaos at the plant, which has included intermittent shelling. Explosions and fires in or around the plant have
resulted in the deaths of two workers, the temporary disconnection of electricity to and from the plant, and mass power outages in the surrounding area.
The IAEA visit is scheduled to occur this week, but crucial details remain to be worked out, including plans to guarantee the safety of the inspectors while they are working in an active war zone.
Ukrainian officials said their biggest fear was that the IAEA visit would bless the safety protocols being followed at the
plant, and by consequence seem to legitimise Russia’s occupying presence there.
‘‘This is the worst-case scenario,’’ Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said. ‘‘That will mean that the Russians will continue attempts to disconnect the power plant from the Ukrainian grid.’’
Ukraine’s state nuclear power company thanked its workers for reconnecting the plant to the grid yesterday, saying they were holding the ‘‘radiation safety’’ of the ‘‘whole of Europe on their shoulders’’.