IAEA warning after drone hits used fuel facility near Chernobyl

In a briefing to the IAEA's Board of Governors, and in a subsequent press conference, Grossi said that in a separate incident on Friday a drone had injured Russian military personnel undertaking de-mining activities as part of an IAEA-mediated ceasefire to allow the main 750 kV Dniprovska external power line to Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant to be fixed.

He said that over the weekend there had been further negotiations with both sides before it was agreed that the IAEA would send observers to monitor the mine-clearing work, which is necessary before the repair work can take place on the external power supply lines on pylons on either side of the military front line.

"Without the Dniprovska line, Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant's off-site power situation is very fragile. Over the past days, the plant suffered its 18th offsite power outage since the war began. With a duration of 15-hours, it was also one of its longest, necessitating the use of emergency diesel generators to cool the six shut down reactors until offsite power was restored on Saturday morning," he said.

The incident with a drone striking the three-year-old Central Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage Facility in the Chernobyl exclusion zone took place on Sunday, with Grossi reporting it caused "significant structural damage to part of the fuel reception building, including the IAEA safeguards office. Spent fuel was stored in casks just a few hundred metres from the damaged building. Thankfully, radiation levels at the facility remained normal, indicating the incident did not cause radioactive contamination. It remains unclear when the facility will be able to start receiving spent fuel from Ukraine’s operating nuclear power plants again".

He added: "Attacking a facility with large amounts of nuclear material is extremely dangerous. It must not happen."

The Centralised Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage Facility is a dry storage site for used nuclear fuel assemblies from the country's VVER-1000 and VVER-440 reactors. It is designed to have a total storage capacity of 16,530 used fuel assemblies, including 12,010 VVER-1000 assemblies and 4,520 VVER-440 assemblies. Contracts were signed for its construction with USA-based Holtec International in 2005, although construction only began in 2017.

_{The damaged building at the used fuel storage facility site (Image: Energoatom)}

It started receiving used nuclear fuel from the country's nuclear power plants at the end of 2023 and it has been operating under a commissioning licence. It was issued with its operating licence last month after an inspection carried out from 20 April to 1 May.

Operator Energoatom said the fire caused by the drone strike covered an area of ​​40 square metres and "was quickly localised and completely eliminated". It said there were no injuries among the personnel and the radiation situation remained within normal limits.

During his speech to the board of governors and during his media briefing, Grossi maintained the IAEA's stance of not attributing blame to either side for incidents during the war.

Asked about the policy during the media briefing, Grossi said that both sides blamed the other for incidents. "The IAEA is not a political commentator. When we say something happened, it must be based on our own independent verification. We try to provide as much information as we can so people can draw their own conclusions."

Both the incidents, followed Grossi's statement to the IAEA's Board of Governors on Friday in which he had warned of the dangers of military action near nuclear power plants. He said that there was an increased focus on military preparedness and response, and suggested that there may be a need for a fresh look at the layout of external power lines, following the recent impacts on power supply at nuclear power plants as a result of military action.

During Monday's press briefing, Grossi was asked whether the attacks on, or near, nuclear power plants means that newcomer countries were rethinking their nuclear power plans. He replied that the attacks on plants "worries us a lot", before outlining the action that the IAEA has been taking to help ensure nuclear safety and security. He added: "We don't see, for now at least, a direct influence between these episodes which are highly regrettable, and medium and long-term planning of many countries in the area of peaceful uses of nuclear energy."