Russia’s military assault on Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station led to the destruction of a neutron generator in one of the facilities on the campus, IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi informed on Monday’s press conference.
Grossi left the assembled media shocked with the destruction information that emerged as he was answering the question about what would happen if Russia’s attack harmed the generator.
Despite the information that Russian troops fired on the facility, the results of the attack were unknown up until now.
IAEA Director-General, however, stressed that being a subcritical facility to use neutrons for scientific experiments, the neutron generator facility had a very small inventory so the situation would not be a new Chernobyl-style disaster.
Grossi described the facility as a scientific institute, a relatively new part of an operation between the US and Ukraine from the Obama administration.
However, he confirmed that since there had been nuclear material there, Russia’s attack violated IAEA international protection rules i.e., they attacked a facility protected by IAEA safeguards rules.
The UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed on Sunday that Russian forces have put staff at Europe’s largest nuclear plant under their command and cut off their communication with Ukraine’s nuclear regulator,
The agency explained that any measure or action of plant management, even those related to the six reactor units’ technical operation, requires prior approval by the Russian commander.
IAEA accused Moscow of violating key safety guidelines governing nuclear plants, including that there must be reliable communications with the regulator and that operating staff must be able to fulfill their safety and security duties and have the capacity to make decisions free of undue pressure.
Ukraine’s nuclear regulator also told the UN agency that they cannot obtain reliable information from the site through the normal channels of communication since the Russian forces at the site have switched off some mobile networks and the internet.
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