Nuclear watchdog loses contact with second Ukraine plant as Zaporizhzhia goes ‘offline’

Transmission of data from systems installed to monitor nuclear material disrupted, says International Atomic Energy Agency

A Ukrainian nuclear power plant that suffered damage during fighting when Russian forces stormed the compound has had communication lines severed, the UN’s nuclear watchdog agency has warned.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said direct transmission of data from systems installed to monitor nuclear material at Zaporizhzhia, Europe's largest plant, had been lost.

The reason for the disruption was not immediately clear, the IAEA said, adding that it continued to receive data from other nuclear facilities in Ukraine.

Zaporizhzhia, in the south of the country, has been in Russian hands since last week when a fire broke out in a building at the site after clashes between Russian and Ukrainian forces.

On Wednesday, concern was raised over the situation at the Chernobyl nuclear site, in the north, after Ukraine’s state energy company said power lines had been cut to the site, which was the scene of the world’s worst nuclear accident in 1986.

In an update on the Zaporizhzhia plant, the IAEA said it “in recent days had lost remote data transmission from its safeguards systems installed to monitor nuclear material at the Chornobyl NPP and another Ukrainian nuclear power plant now controlled by Russian forces, the Zaporizhzhya NPP”.

Rafael Mariano Grossi, IAEA’s director general, said he was concerned about the sudden interruption of data flows to the agency’s Vienna headquarters from the two sites, where large amounts of nuclear material are present in the form of spent or fresh nuclear fuel and other types of radioactive material.

Zaporizhzhia is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe (EPA)

“The remote transmission of data from IAEA safeguards equipment located at nuclear sites around the world is an important component of our safeguards implementation, in Ukraine and globally,” he said.

“Such systems are installed in several facilities in Ukraine, including all nuclear power plants, and enable us to monitor nuclear material and activities at these sites when our inspectors are not present.”

Surveillance camera footage shows a flare landing at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant during shelling (Zaporizhzhya NPP via REUTERS)

The agency said safeguards were in place to ensure that the data was stored locally, but that the storage capacity and operational status of the monitoring systems remained uncertain.

Ukraine said on Wednesday there was a danger of a radiation leak at Chernobyl after electricity was cut off, but the UN watchdog said it saw "no critical impact on security".

This map shows the extent of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (Press Association Images)

In this handout photo provided by the Ukrainian National Nuclear Energy Generation Company Energoatom, a fire is seen at the nuclear plant after it was attracted by Russian forces (AP)

Russia has accused Ukrainian forces of attacking power lines and a substation feeding the power plant.

Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko has now instructed Belarusian specialists to ensure power supply to the power plant, which is close to the border with his country, the BelTA news agency reported.

Ukraine has 15 nuclear reactors, eight of which were operating as of Wednesday.

Mr Grossi, who has been pressing for an agreement with Ukraine and Russia on the safety of Ukraine's nuclear power plants, is in Antalya, Turkey for talks with Russian and Ukrainian diplomats.

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