Ukrainian governor says fire at Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant stopped

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - A Ukrainian governor said on Monday that the fire at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, over which Moscow and Kyiv have traded accusations since Sunday night, has been stopped.

“The fire on the territory of the Zaporizhzhia NPP has stopped,” Dnipropetrovsk Governor Serhii Lysak said on Telegram, expressing that the level of radiation in the Nikopol district, which lies opposite the plant but is separated by the Dnieper River, is at a normal level.

Ukraine’s national nuclear energy provider Energoatom also said early Monday that there were no breaches of the limits and conditions for the plant’s safe operation, as well as no record of discharges of radioactive substances.

Energoatom went on to allege that the probable cause of the fire was “negligence” by Russian forces or “deliberate firing” by Russian troops at the cooling tower, which it said is located around 1 kilometer (0.6 mile) from the power units of the plant.

It further claimed that Russian forces used the Zaporizhzhia plant and its premises as “military warehouses for the placement of equipment, weapons, explosives and military ammunition,” arguing that this significantly increases the risk of fires.

It said large-scale fires in the plant can lead to a radiation accident, but that current readings show the radiation level at the plant to be within the current norms, and that there is no threat of radiation for the population at this time.

“Only the liberation of the ZNPP and its transfer to the only legitimate operator, Energoatom, can guarantee the prevention of a nuclear and radiation accident as well as ensure its reliable and safe operation,” it added.

On Sunday, Ukraine and Russia traded accusations after reports emerged of a fire breaking out at one of the cooling systems of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.

Moscow has accused Ukraine of causing the fire by shelling the city of Enerhodar hosting the power plant, while Kyiv blamed Russia for starting the fire and using the plant to “blackmail Ukraine, all of Europe, and the world.”

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said the plant confirmed to the IAEA team that there is no risk of elevated radiation levels because there is no radioactive material in the vicinity of the alleged attack area.

It further said its support and assistance mission in the region is requesting immediate access to the cooling tower to assess the damage caused by the fire.

The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Europe’s largest and one of the world’s 10 biggest, has been under Russian control since March 2022, soon after the start of the Ukraine war.

Since then, fears of a nuclear catastrophe persist as both Moscow and Kyiv have accused each other of shelling near the plant.