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Zaporozhye NPP came 'quite close' to nuclear incident after drone attack — IAEA

"Every time situations like these happen we get close to it, so it’s not an artificial or imaginative scenario," Director General Rafael Grossi underlined

VIENNA, April 8. /TASS/. The Zaporozhye Nuclear Power plant came "quite close" to a nuclear accident, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said, according to Bloomberg.

According to the report, the IAEA believes that the nuclear power plant came "quite close" to a nuclear accident after the drone attack on Sunday.

"Our objective here is to avoid a nuclear accident," Grossi said. "Every time situations like these happen we get close to it, so it’s not an artificial or imaginative scenario."

On April 7, the Ukrainian armed forces carried out an unprecedented series of attacks on the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant. One strike hit the territory adjacent to the cafeteria, injuring three employees; one employee was seriously injured, according to Rosatom. Half an hour later, a drone attacked the cargo port area; later, a drone attacked reactor number 6, hitting the reactor rooftop.

Later that day, the IAEA published Grossi’s statement on its X page, in which the Director General called the drone attack "reckless" and called on military decision-makers to refrain from any actions that violate the basic principles of protection of nuclear facilities.