MNI: Monitoring Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant - IAEA

The International Atomic Energy Agency said on Friday it will hold a press briefing on the status of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in the Ukrainian city of Enerhodar as Russian troops reportedly shelled areas nearby and a perimeter building caught fire as Ukraine and Russian troops battled, according to news reports.

The IAEA plans a briefing at 10:30am CET to update on initial reports of a fire at the plant.

Benchmark Brent crude oil rose to an intraday high of $114.23 a barrel on Friday in Asia, and natural gas prices in Europe and globally have hit records this week as concerns grow over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine possibly stopping energy flows from Russia to the West.

The IAEA said it put its Incident and Emergency Centre on full 24/7 response because of the “serious situation” around the plant in a series of posts on Twitter, as it monitored events at the 950-megawatt facility that was built from 1984 to 1995 as the largest nuclear power plant in Europe.

On its website, the IAEA said Russia updated the agency two days ago that “its military forces have taken control of the territory around” the plant.

Separately on the IAEA on Twitter on Friday, Ukraine had told the agency that the shelling and fighting “has not affected “essential” equipment” and that “plant personnel (are) taking mitigatory actions” after a day informing them of fighting around the plant.

“Ukraine informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) today (March 3) that a large number of Russian tanks and infantry “broke through the block-post” to the town of Enerhodar, a few kilometres from the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (NPP),” Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said in a statement posted on the agency’s website.

Grossi appealed for an immediate halt to the use of force at Enerhodar and called on the military forces operating there to refrain from violence near the nuclear power plant, the agency said, adding the “IAEA continues to consult with Ukraine and others with a view to provide maximum possible assistance to the country as it seeks to maintain nuclear safety and security in the current difficult circumstances.”

Reuters, citing RIA news agency quoting a spokesman at the plant, said background radiation levels were normal and that the fire was at the perimeter of the plant.

The second round of talks between Russian and Ukrainian officials in Belarus ended on Wednesday, with an agreement to form humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians, advisor to the Head of the President’s Office of Ukraine, Mykhailo Podoliak, confirmed on Twitter.