According to reports, the United Nations nuclear guardian has lost connection with its remote monitoring systems that monitor the nuclear material at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine.
Zaporizhzhia is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe and is in Russian command from the past one week. The Russian forces took control of the site after clashes with the Ukrainian forces. Following the clash, a limited fire had broken out in one of the training buildings at the nuclear power plant site.
The announcement by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) came a day after it said the same situation had taken place at the radioactive waste facilities at Chernobyl, near the now defunct power plant. Both the sites are being run and managed by the Ukrainian staff, but the control of the site lies with the Russian troops.
IAEA said in a statement that its Chief Rafael Grossi is concerned on the sudden interference of data flows to the IAEA’s Vienna headquarters from the two sites. Both the sites have large stockpile of nuclear material either in the form of spent or fresh nuclear fuel, along with other types of nuclear material.
IAEA further said that the cause of the disruption is not clear as yet. The data transmissions from the other nuclear facilities in Ukraine were working efficiently, the statement added.
IAEA Chief Grossi has called for a trilateral meeting with the Ukrainians and Russians so that the safety of the nuclear facilities can be ensured. He said on Wednesday that he would travel to Antalya in Turkey on Thursday, where a meeting is due between the Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers.
Earlier on Wednesday Ukraine said that the power to Chernobyl had been cut but the IAEA said the spent fuel present there could still be cooled safely.
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