Russian Nuclear Blackmail: Obstruction of IAEA Access to Ukraine's Largest Nuclear Power Plant in Europe Raises Questions

IAEA experts still cannot access all parts of Ukraine's largest nuclear power plant, Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), which has been occupied by the Russian army for the second consecutive year. In the past two weeks, Russian occupiers have denied IAEA representatives access to the reactor halls of Blocks 1, 2, and 6. 

This marks the first instance where IAEA experts were not granted access to the reactor hall of a block that was in cold shutdown. The active reactor zone and spent fuel are located there.

This is stated in the official report by the IAEA, whose team will continue to seek this access from Russian occupiers at ZNPP.

Highlighting the ongoing danger faced by the station, the IAEA team has been hearing regular explosions in the vicinity of the facility in recent weeks.

Frequent power outages at ZNPP remain a source of serious concern for the safety of the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, as it requires electricity for reactor cooling and other vital functions, even if all reactor blocks are shut down.

Since August 2022, there have been eight events of complete power outage at ZNPP.

Over the past week, Russian occupiers continue to restrict IAEA access to certain parts of the turbine halls at ZNPP, including zones 3, 4, and 6 of the blocks.

Moreover, IAEA experts are still awaiting the planned access to the reactor roofs scheduled for December 19, which did not take place due to the Russians' claimed 'safety considerations.'

During the inspection of the safety system premises of Block 6 on December 22, IAEA experts observed boron acid deposits on valves, pumps, and the floor of several containment rooms. The plant informed the team that the source of the leak is one of the boron acid storage tanks and, considering the small volume of the leak, it is not planned to be addressed immediately but as part of the planned maintenance of the affected system.

However, this type of leakage can occur during the operation of the installation.

According to the President of Ukraine's Energoatom, Petro Kotin, the fact that experts from the Agency's monitoring mission are not allowed access to the reactor halls, where active reactor zones are located and spent nuclear fuel is stored, may be an attempt by Russian occupiers to conceal the true situation at ZNPP.

He emphasizes that the only legitimate operator of the largest nuclear facility in Europe, Zaporizhzhia NPP, is Energoatom, so only returning the station under full control of Ukraine can ensure its nuclear and radiation safety.