KYIV (Reuters) – Ukraine’s Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest, which was occupied by the Russian military in March, is facing a severe shortage of spare parts, threatening the safety of its operations, the Ukrainian military intelligence agency said on Friday.
The plant, located in southeastern Ukraine, is still operated by Ukrainian technicians despite being occupied by Russian troops.
“A critical situation has developed in the factory (…) in terms of stability and security of operations. There are hardly any spare parts or consumable materials left,” the ministry’s intelligence service said. of the Ukrainian Defense.
Staff rotations at the nuclear power plant take place once a week, he added in a statement.
Ukraine experienced the worst civilian nuclear accident in history in 1986 at the Chernobyl power plant, located north of Kyiv.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) completed a three-day mission to the permanently closed Chernobyl power plant on Friday to ensure the safety of the facility and said it would also visit the Zaporizhia power plant. .
“The director general is now also continuing his efforts to organize an IAEA mission to (the plant) to carry out important nuclear safety, security and safeguards activities at this site located in the south of the country,” he said. the agency said in a statement posted on its website.
(Reporting Natalia Zinets in kyiv and François Murphy in Vienna; written by Tom Balmforth; French version Diana Mandiá)
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