Ukraine’s Largest Nuclear Power Plant Taken by Russian Forces
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported on March 4 that Russian forces had taken control of the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) site, but that the reactors continued to be operated by the plant’s regular staff and there had been no release of radioactive material.
“What we are telling you is confirmed information that is coming straight from the Ukrainian regulator or straight from the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, where we have contacts at the moment and permanently through the night,” IAEA Director General Rafael Mario Grossi said during a press conference held on Friday at 10:30 a.m. CET (4:30 a.m. EST) in Vienna, Austria.
Grossi reported that overnight a projectile had hit a training/construction building within the plant site, causing a fire, which was extinguished by the local fire brigade at the power station. “It’s important to say that all the safety systems of the six reactors at the plant were not affected at all and that there has been no release of radioactive material,” Grossi emphasized during his press briefing.…