![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.malayalamdailynews.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/UKRAINE.jpg\")
VIENNA\u00a0 – A blackout caused by fresh shelling near Ukraine s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has compromised the site s safety, the UN atomic watchdog warned Friday, adding the plant s operator is considering shutting down the sole remaining reactor.<\/p>\n
“Shelling has caused a complete blackout in Energodar (town) and compromised the safe operation of the nearby Zaporizhzhia (plant),” International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi tweeted, calling it a “dramatic development”.<\/p>\n
“This is completely unacceptable. It cannot stand,” he said, calling for “the immediate cessation of all shelling in the entire area”.<\/p>\n
“Only this will ensure the security of operating staff and allow the durable restoration of power to Energodar and to the power plant,” he added.<\/p>\n
The Zaporizhzhia plant is Europe\u00a0s largest nuclear power facility.<\/p>\n
It was occupied by Russian troops in March and has been shelled in recent weeks, with Ukraine and Russia blaming each other for the attacks, raising fears of a nuclear disaster.<\/p>\n
Grossi said he learned of the shelling on Friday from IAEA staff on the site.<\/p>\n
The shelling of the switchyard at Energodar\u00a0s thermal power plant has led to a “complete power black-out” in the city, where the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is located, he said.<\/p>\n
“No running water, no power, no sewage,” he said.<\/p>\n
– \u00a0Significant risk\u00a0 –<\/strong><\/p>\n Plant operators and others living in Energodar faced “increasingly dire circumstances”, with a “significant risk” there would no longer be enough essential staff at the plant.<\/p>\n And there was “little likelihood of re-establishing reliable offsite power” given the increased and continued shelling, he added.<\/p>\n “As a result, the IAEA understands that the operator, having no longer confidence in the restoration of offsite power, is considering shutting down the only remaining operating reactor,” he said.<\/p>\n The plant in recent days has relied on this reactor for the power it needs for cooling and other safety functions.<\/p>\n “The entire power plant would then be fully reliant on emergency diesel generators for ensuring vital nuclear safety and security functions,” Grossi warned.<\/p>\n The IAEA called Tuesday for a security zone to be set up around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, saying the current situation was “untenable”.<\/p>\n The IAEA sent a 14-person team to the site last week. Two members are remaining there on a permanent basis to ensure the facility\u00a0s safety.<\/p>\n Kyiv on Wednesday called for an international mission to be set up at the plant and for the population to evacuate the area amid fears of a nuclear disaster.<\/p>\n (AFP)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" VIENNA\u00a0 – A blackout caused by fresh shelling near Ukraine s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has compromised the site s safety, the UN atomic watchdog warned Friday, adding the plant s operator is considering shutting down the sole remaining reactor. “Shelling has caused a complete blackout in Energodar (town) and compromised the safe operation of the nearby Zaporizhzhia (plant),” International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi tweeted, calling it a “dramatic development”. “This is completely unacceptable. It cannot stand,” he said, calling for “the immediate cessation of all shelling…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":625195,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47748],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-625194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.malayalamdailynews.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/625194","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.malayalamdailynews.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.malayalamdailynews.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.malayalamdailynews.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.malayalamdailynews.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=625194"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.malayalamdailynews.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/625194\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.malayalamdailynews.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/625195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.malayalamdailynews.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=625194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.malayalamdailynews.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=625194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.malayalamdailynews.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=625194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}