MOSCOW, October 5. /TASS/. The acting governor of the Zaporozhye Region, Yevgeny Balitsky, demanded on Wednesday guarantees that Ukrainian forces stop shelling the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant in order for it to resume operations.
"Restarting the plant could be easy, and we can restart that, but we need guarantees that there be no more [Ukrainian] shelling, as employees run for cover, naturally, when shelling begins, which is extremely unsafe for a nuclear power plant," the official told Rossiya-24 television. Systematic shelling by the Ukrainians is definitely not conducive to the normal operation of the plant, he said, otherwise the nuclear facility could, in principle, be recommissioned, he assured.
The Zaporozhye NPP, located in the city of Energodar, is controlled by Russian troops. It has repeatedly been targeted by Ukrainian forces. All the six power units are currently switched off after some infrastructure facilities at the power plant were damaged. A delegation of the International Atomic Energy Agency led by the agency’s Director General Rafael Grossi traveled to the plant in early September. Later, the IAEA published a report proposing to establish a security zone around the power plant to thwart emergencies amid the fighting.