IAEA: Situation at Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant remains unpredictable

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said that although no new drone attacks have been registered at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) for more than a week, the situation remains unpredictable.

"We are not aware of any drone attacks since this reported incident one week ago, which is encouraging. However, we know from experience that the situation can take a sudden turn for the worse from one minute to the next. The situation remains highly unpredictable," TASS reports citing IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi’s message.

The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant reported an attempted drone attack on the facility’s training center, housing the world's only full-scale reactor hall simulator on April 18.

IAEA experts visited the training centre on April 22.

"They were not able to see its roof but were told by a representative of the training centre that it had not been damaged on this occasion. However, it had been a stressful and frightening experience for staff," the IAEA statement says.

The ZNPP, located in Energodar, has six power units with a total capacity of six GW. It is Europe‘s largest nuclear power generating facility. At the end of February 2022, the facility was taken over by Russian forces. Since then, Ukrainian army units have periodically shelled both residential areas in Energodar and the plant itself using drones, heavy artillery and multiple rocket launchers.