UAV for the third time since the beginning of the year attacked the ZNPP training center – IAEA
Kyiv • UNN
IAEA is concerned about drone incidents near the ZNPP. Another likely attack on the station's training center has been recorded, the third such incident since the beginning of the year.
Incidents involving drones near Ukrainian nuclear power plants are causing increasing concern at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). This morning, the agency's team working at the Zaporizhzhia NPP recorded another likely drone attack on the plant's training center - the third since the beginning of the year. This is stated in a statement by IAEA Director General Mariano Grossi, reports UNN.
Details
Grossi said that this morning the IAEA team based at the ZNPP heard shots that coincided with a likely drone attack on a training center at the facility. This is reportedly the third time this year that the training center, located just outside the perimeter of the facility, has been targeted by such an unmanned aerial vehicle.
These reports of drone incidents are of great concern as they could pose a direct threat to nuclear safety. Simply put, too many drones are flying near nuclear facilities, not just the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. This must stop immediately.
The statement said that agency staff heard gunfire around 10:00 a.m. local time, but it was not clear whether it was related to the drone attack.
ZNPP informed the IAEA team that a drone crashed into the roof of the training center, causing no significant damage, and no casualties were reported.
It is not yet known whether the drone crashed directly into the building or fell on the structure after being shot down, ZNPP said.
The IAEA team requested permission to visit the training center, as it had been able to do after a previous similar incident in April. However, no permission has been granted so far.
Addition
On February 14 of this year, a Russian drone seriously damaged the New Safe Confinement (NSC) at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, built to prevent any radioactive release from reactor unit No. 4, which was destroyed in the 1986 accident, and to protect it from external hazards.
In mid-April, a drone was shot down near the ZNPP training center, crashing just over three months after another drone attack on the same center.
Khmelnytskyi, Rivne and South Ukrainian NPPs also regularly report the detection of drones nearby. Last Friday, the IAEA team at the South Ukrainian NPP was informed that drones had been observed just 2 km from the plant. The team reported hearing anti-aircraft fire from their hotel. That same night, drones were reported flying through the Chernobyl exclusion zone.
In conclusion
In March of this year, 47 IAEA member states supported Ukraine's sovereignty and condemned the occupation of the Zaporizhzhia NPP by Russia.