SOCHI, November 21. /TASS/. A chance of a nuclear disaster at the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant exists, Rosatom Chief Executive Officer Alexey Likhachev told reporters.
"We are informing the international community that the plant is at risk of a nuclear disaster and Kiev clearly believes that a small nuclear incident would be acceptable. However, radiation won’t ask Kiev what kind of incident it wants. It will be a precedent that will change the course of history forever. So everything possible needs to be done to make sure that no one can even think of damaging the security of nuclear power plants," he pointed out.
The Russian Defense Ministry recently reported that the Ukrainian Armed Forces had resumed shelling attacks on the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant after a two-month break. According to the ministry, Ukrainian forces fired 25 munitions at the facility on November 19-20, with one of them hitting the roof of Special Building No 2, where nuclear fuel is stored. The attackers were suppressed by return fire, and radiation levels remain normal around the power plant, the ministry added.
The Zaporozhye NPP is Europe’s largest operating nuclear power plant. Russia took control of the facility on February 28, in the first days of its special military operation in Ukraine, and the nuclear power plant continued to operate normally. An International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) mission led by IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi visited the Zaporozhye nuclear plant in early September and several IAEA employees remained at the site as observers. The agency later published a report calling for the creation of a safety zone around the plant to prevent accidents caused by military activities.