Largest nuclear power plant in Europe
Russia sends representatives to the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant
3/12/2022, 6:26 p.m
Just over a week ago, Russia also conquered the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant during its war in Ukraine. A fire on the site has no devastating consequences. According to Ukrainian information, Moscow now regards the plant as its own territory – and uses experts.
Representatives of the Russian nuclear company Rosatom have arrived at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, which was attacked by Russian tanks in early March. The Rosatom representatives said they wanted to check the radiation at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, as the Ukrainian nuclear authority Energoatom announced on Telegram. Russian troops attacked Europe’s largest nuclear power plant on March 4 and took it under their control.
According to the Ukrainian nuclear agency, the 11 Rosatom representatives were accompanied by engineers from Russia’s Balakovo-on-Volga and Rostov-on-Don nuclear power plants. The engineers said they should “help repair the power plant,” according to Energoatom. According to Energoatom, the Ukrainian nuclear plant personnel refused to cooperate with the Russians.
According to Energoatom, one of the Russians who arrived with the engineers at the nuclear plant posed as the new representative of the local military-civilian administration. Accordingly, he told the plant employees that the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant is now considered Russian territory and belongs to the Russian nuclear agency Rosatom.
IAEA is receiving data again
Rosatom confirmed that “a group of several Russian experts” is “advising” the Ukrainian experts. Administration and operation are in the hands of Ukraine. This also applies to the former Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Russian and Ukrainian specialists exchanged information regularly.
About a week ago, Russian tanks fired on the nuclear power plant, causing a fire in a training building that could be extinguished. The attack sparked fears of a reactor catastrophe in Europe. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the automatic transmission of data to the IAEA in Vienna is now working again after an interruption.
The power plant with six reactors is located in southern Ukraine on the Dnieper River. With a total capacity of almost 6000 megawatts, it is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe and can supply around four million households with electricity. Under normal circumstances, Zaporizhia supplies a fifth of Ukraine’s electricity and nearly half of the country’s nuclear energy.