MELITOPOL, March 26. /TASS/. The Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant’s (ZNPP) operational experience during the Ukrainian conflict could be useful for the Bushehr NPP in Iran, Igor Kastyukevich, Russian Federation Council (upper house of parliament) member from the Kherson Region, told TASS.
"The experience of maintaining the ZNPP’s operation under conditions where it found itself in an active combat zone (artillery shelling, loss of external power) is unprecedented in the history of nuclear energy. <…> The difference is that the Bushehr NPP is located on the coast of the Persian Gulf, far from the front line. However, given geopolitical tensions, the Iranian side could likely consider the ZNPP's experience to revise its own plans for protecting nuclear facilities from possible sabotage or attacks," Kastyukevich noted.
He added that the expertise accumulated by Zaporozhye NPP in strengthening physical security, cybersecurity, backup of emergency power supply systems, and training of personnel for actions in extreme external conditions "can be transformed into new security standards."
The Federation Council member is convinced that Zaporozhye NPP’s experience is already changing international approaches to assessing the vulnerability of nuclear power plants to military risks.
Since 2022, Ukrainian troops have been conducting artillery strikes and drone attacks on the territory of the Zaporozhye NPP, its satellite Energodar city, and the surrounding area. On March 24, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported that Zaporozhye NPP had again been disconnected from one of its two external power lines. IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi added that negotiations would be initiated with Russia and Ukraine to establish a local ceasefire for the NPP repairs. In total, such ceasefires, brokered by the IAEA, have already been organized five times to restore power lines damaged during military operations.
Earlier, the Russian Foreign Ministry, in connection with the strike in close proximity to the operating power unit No. 1 of the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant on March 24, stated that Moscow demands that those who recklessly attacked Iran cease their unprovoked aggression, including strikes on Iranian nuclear energy infrastructure covered by the IAEA Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement.