Zelenskyy and UN atomic agency head warn of heightened risk at huge
Ukrainian nuclear plant
[October 01, 2025]
By ILLIA NOVIKOV
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s president and the U.N. nuclear agency
head are sounding the alarm about increased safety risks at the
Russia-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in southern Ukraine,
which lost its external power supply more than a week ago as the war
raged around it.
Emergency diesel generators are providing power for crucial cooling
systems for the facility’s six shutdown reactors and spent fuel, and
there is no immediate danger to Europe’s biggest nuclear plant,
according to International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael
Mariano Grossi.
But “it is clearly not a sustainable situation in terms of nuclear
safety,” he said.
The backup generators have never needed to run for so long, according to
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“The generators and the plant were not designed for this,” Zelenskyy
said late Tuesday, describing the situation as “critical.”
Zaporizhzhia is one of the 10 biggest nuclear plants in the world, and
its fate amid the fighting has caused fears of a potential nuclear
catastrophe. Russian forces seized it days after the full-scale invasion
of neighboring Ukraine began on Feb. 24, 2022.
The Vienna-based IAEA has been walking a tightrope in the war, eager to
maintain access to nuclear facilities and issuing warnings about the
dangers without angering either side. Ukraine has four nuclear plants,
though Zaporizhzhia is the only one in Russian hands.
Grossi said that Zaporizhzhia's emergency generators were coping with
the extra strain so far.
“The current status of the reactor units and spent fuel is stable as
long as the emergency diesel generators are able to provide sufficient
power to maintain essential safety-related functions and cooling,” he
said in a statement late Tuesday.
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A view of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station, in Enerhodar,
Zaporizhzhia region, in territory under Russian military control,
southeastern Ukraine, on May 1, 2022. (AP Photo/File)
An IAEA team at the plant reported that it has fuel reserves
ensuring the generators can operate for more than 10 days, with
regular off-site supplies maintaining this level.
“Nevertheless, it is extremely important that off-site power is
restored,” Grossi said, adding that he was in touch with Russian and
Ukrainian officials about how to swiftly reconnect the plant to the
grid.
As Russia’s invasion churns across the Ukrainian countryside, the
Zaporizhzhia facility has repeatedly been caught in the crossfire.
It lost its off-site power for the 10th time during the war on Sept.
23, when its only remaining power line was damaged by military
activity about 1½ kilometers (a mile) from the plant, the IAEA
statement said.
Eight emergency diesel generators are operating, with nine
additional units in standby mode and three in maintenance, according
to the IAEA.
It said that over the past week, the plant has been alternating
those in use and servicing idle generators in an effort to ensure
continuous availability.
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Stephanie Liechtenstein contributed to this report from Vienna.
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