Situation at Zaporizhia NPP occupied for 3 years remains critically difficult - Haluschenko
The situation at Zaporizhia NPP (ZNPP), which has been occupied for three years, is critically difficult and as long as the Russian Federation continues to hold the station, the world is on the verge of a nuclear, radiation and environmental disaster.
Minister of Energy of Ukraine Herman Haluschenko said this on Facebook on the occasion of the third anniversary of the station's occupation on March 4 on Tuesday.
"The enemy continues to militarize Zaporizhia NPP and the adjacent occupied territories, blocks access to the station site for Ukrainian personnel. Due to the incompetent actions of the occupiers, the degradation of the station's equipment and security systems continues," he noted.
In addition, the term of residence of nuclear fuel in the reactors is expiring. Due to constant shelling, ZNPP periodically remains literally on one power line, which threatens a nuclear incident, as it creates a danger to the cooling of nuclear reactors.
The effectiveness of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) mission at the station has been significantly reduced, as the Russian Federation continues to limit the communication of the agency's experts with the station's personnel and block access to some areas and premises of ZNPP.
As Haluschenko recalled, since the capture of ZNPP by Russian troops, the station has suffered significant damage and experienced more than one fire.
"Furthermore, there was a deliberate militarization of the nuclear power plant by the enemy. Despite the fact that this is a nuclear facility with a strict security regime, the Russian occupiers placed military equipment and ammunition on the station site, shelling neighboring cities from its territory," he wrote.
According to the minister, this was followed by the kidnapping and intimidation of personnel, the destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station and the reservoir, numerous provocations and blackouts at the nuclear facility itself. At the same time, all the rules of nuclear and radiation safety were violated and continue to be violated.
"The world, together with us, with Ukraine, must direct all efforts to stop Russia's nuclear blackmail - demilitarization and deoccupation of ZNPP, the return of the station under full control of Ukraine and the restoration of its safe operation," Haluschenko emphasized.
