An explosion occurred at the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia NPP, at 11:00 p.m. on the 14th. Ukrainian state nuclear power generation company Energoatom pointed out that the Russian army detonated some bombs at the nuclear power plant.
The Ukrainian "Kyiv Independent" tweeted that the Russian army detonated explosives at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, very close to the main reactor, and even planned the next wave of detonations but, at present, Russia has not confirmed this.
However, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was on fire as early as the 4th of this month due to an attack by the Russian army. After the fire was extinguished, the nuclear power plant was occupied by the Russian army, causing concerns about a nuclear disaster. At that time, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kulebo warned that if the nuclear power plant exploded, the disaster will be 10 times worse than the Chernobyl incident.
According to international radiation safety data collected by the Atomic Energy Council, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has a total of 6 reactor units. At present, the external power supply is normal and the staff continue to maintain the normal operation of the power plant. Ukrainian regulators informed the IAEA that since the Russian military took control of the nuclear power plant on the 4th, Ukraine has continued to detect and carry out unexploded ordnance disposal operations near the damaged training center and power plant.
Regarding media reports of an "explosion at Europe's largest nuclear power plant," the IAEA said it was in contact with Ukrainian regulators for further information. After verification of the EU environmental radiation monitoring value, there is no abnormal radiation value near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant area.
As for the occupied and decommissioned Chernobyl power plant, a Ukrainian regulator said that one of the two transmission lines had been repaired, but the line was damaged again that night. After emergency repairs by power plant personnel, it has now been reconnected to the grid and power has been restored again. The IAEA stated that the cooling system used in the nuclear fuel pool can operate without electricity and the Ukrainian regulator has also previously stated that, according to the facility safety analysis report, in case of a complete power failure, there is no significant impact on basic safety functions.
（Image：Ralf1969, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons）
