Russia, Ukraine exchange accusations over fire in cooling system of Zaporizhzhia plant

By Emre Gurkan Abay

MOSCOW (AA) - Russia and Ukraine have both blamed each other for a fire that broke out in one of the cooling towers of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), Europe's largest nuclear power plant.

Built between 1984 and 1995 in Ukraine's southwestern region of Zaporizhzhia, the nuclear power plant has a total of six reactors, each with a capacity of 950 megawatts, and can supply energy to approximately four million households.

Zaporizhzhia NPP used to meet 20% of Ukraine's energy needs before it was captured by Russia, after which all six of the plant's reactors shifted to a state of "cold shutdown."

While artillery and drone attacks have been carried out around the power plant, which came under Russian control in March 2022, Ukraine and Russia blame each other for the attacks.

The latest such accusation came late Sunday when Yevgeny Balitsky, the Russian-installed governor of the Zaporizhzhia region, reported that a fire broke out in Zaporizhzhia NPP's cooling system due to "Ukrainian shelling."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, for his part, claimed on X that Russian forces "started" a fire on the premises of the plant, and accused Moscow of using the plant to "blackmail Ukraine, all of Europe, and the world."

"There is no impact on nuclear safety," International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Rafael Grossi said in a corresponding statement on the incident.

The statement further said that the IAEA's support and assistance mission to the plant requested immediate access to the cooling tower to assess the damage.

Russian and Ukrainian officials have said that the fire at Zaporizhzhia NPP's cooling system has been extinguished, and that background radiation levels in the region are normal.

*Writing by Burc Eruygur in Istanbul