2022 Russian occupation of plant
After the Russian invasion of Ukraine began on 24 February 2022, Energoatom shut down Units 5 and 6 to reduce risk, keeping Units 1 to 4 in operation on 25 February.[22]
At 11:28 pm local time on 3 March 2022, a column of 10 Russian armored vehicles and two tanks approached the power plant.[23][24] Fighting commenced at 12:48am on 4 March when Ukraine forces fired anti-tank missiles. Russian forces responded with a variety of weapons, including rocket-propelled grenades.[23] During approximately two hours of heavy combat, a fire broke out in a training facility outside the main complex, which was extinguished by 6:20am,[25][26][27] though other sections surrounding the plant sustained damage.[23][28]
The fire did not impact reactor safety or any essential equipment.[28][29][27] The plant lost 1.3 GW of capacity.[30] It was later learned that a large caliber bullet pierced an outer wall of Reactor No. 4 and an artillery shell hit a transformer at Reactor No. 6.[31]
Ukrayinska Pravda reported on 12 March 2022 that the plant's management was told by Russian authorities that the plant now belonged to Rosatom, Russia's state nuclear power company.[9] It continued to operate and supply data, including from a remote monitoring system, to the IAEA,[32] and continued to be operated by Ukrainian staff, under Russian control.[33] Satellite imagery from 9 July 2022 and 7 August 2022 shows that Russian forces established bases and defensive positions next to the reactor units,[34] along the central supply route[35] and on the periphery of the facility.[36]
On 3 September 2022 an IAEA delegation visited the plant and on 6 September 2022 a report was published documenting damage and potential threats to plant security caused by external shelling and the presence of occupying troops in the plant.[37][38]
With the declared annexation of Zaporizhzhia oblast, Russia also declared legal takeover of the plant, while the actual control over its operations continued to be unclear as of October 2022. Russian forces detained a number of plant's Ukrainian employees—starting from its deputy director Valery Martynyuk, his assistant Oleh Oshek, and IT manager Oleh Kostyukov—without providing any justification for their detainment.[39][40]
As of November 2022, Ukrainian cities had drawn up plans for evacuation centers and secured supplies of potassium iodide pills, and 10% of Ukrainian emergency medical teams had been reconfigured to respond to chemical, biological, radiation, and nuclear risks.[41]
The destruction of the nearby Kakhovka Dam on 6 June 2023 was reported to have no immediate risk to the plant.[42] Generally five units have been in cold shutdown with one unit kept in hot shutdown, which the IAEA reported was necessary to produce steam for nuclear safety purposes, including the processing of liquid radioactive waste in storage tanks. The IAEA is urging the investigation of whether an external boiler can be installed as an alternative to keeping one unit in hot shutdown.[43][44]
On 19 January 2024, the IAEA reported the presence of mines along the perimeter of the power plant's territory, in the buffer zone between the inner and outer fences of the facility. According to the Agency it is "inconsistent with the IAEA safety standards." Mines that had been found there previously were removed in November 2023.[45]
On 7 April 2024, the IAEA reported that the plant was attacked by drones, apparently targeting surveillance and communication equipment. Russian troops tried to shoot down the drones without success. There was at least one casualty outside a laboratory, three direct hits on reactor containment structures and minor superficial scorching on the Unit 6 reactor dome. Although the nuclear safety was not compromised as there was no evidence of any structural damage to systems, the Agency considers strike as a major threat to nuclear safety.[46][47]
Reactor 2 during the September 2022
IAEA inspection
IAEA Director General
Rafael Grossi and mission team members at the plant in September 2022
Shell damage to the roof of the building housing solid radioactive waste and fresh nuclear fuel, September 2022
Shell damage on Unit 4 reactor building, November 2022
Wikinews has related news: