The Zaporijia plant was touched in the night by Russian strikes. A fire was declared, before being extinguished in the morning. The radioactivity levels remain unchanged, according to the authorities.
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The Russian army has seized Friday, March 4th of the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, Zaporijia, in the south-east of Ukraine, announced the regional authorities. The staff of the plant, located in the city of Enerhodar, inspects the state of the reactors to ensure that the security protocols are respected, they added.
The plant, which has six nuclear reactors, has been affected in the night by Russian strikes. A building caught fire, fearing a huge nuclear catastrophe. The Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dmyro Kuleba, sounded the Twitter alert at night: “The Russian army draws from all sides on the Zaporijia nuclear power plant, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. Fire. Is already declared. If he explodes, he will be ten times bigger than Chernobyl! The Russians must immediately stop shooting, allowing firefighters to enter, and establish a security zone! “For his part, the International Agency of the Atomic energy called “to cease the use of force” and warned of a “serious danger if the reactors are affected”. Its managing director, Rafael Mariano Grosse, had to hold a press conference on Friday in the morning.
According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky are Russian tanks that opened fire on the plant. “These tanks are equipped with thermal viewfers so they know what they do, they had prepared,” he said in a video. As a first step, Russian soldiers prevented the relief services from going to the site to extinguish the fire. These were only able to access it at the early morning.
“Nuclear Terror”
After several hours of uncertainty, the places were secured and the reactors were “safely arrested”, announced US officials, in connection with Kiev. The fire, which did not do any victim, was extinguished by Ukrainian firefighters at 6:20, local time. He touched a building devoted to training and laboratory. The attack has not affected any “essential” installation of the plant, and nuclear security has not been affected, ensured the IAEA and the Ukrainian authorities. “Nuclear security is now guaranteed,” said Oleksandre Stroughh, head of the Zaporijia region.
Of the six nuclear reactors, the number 1 is disconnected, the 2, 3, 5 and 6 are in the cooling phase, while the 4 is operational, the Ukrainian state reported in charge of the Inspection of nuclear sites. However, he did not specify what their status was before the attack. Air defense has been strengthened above the area.
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