Last week, a soldier lured a road across the Dnipro River from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear complex. Both Ukrainian and Russian officials reported explosions there on Friday, blaming each other. Credit…David Guttenfelder for The New York Times
DRUZHKIVKA, Ukraine — Ukrainian officials have been sounding the alarm for months. The world’s nuclear watchdog warned of extraordinary risks this week. Then on Friday, artillery duels near a giant nuclear power plant on the Dnipro River in southern Ukraine created new security risks.
The explosions in and around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear complex around 2:30 p.m. destroyed power transmission lines and risked damaging the plant, forcing engineers to alter the operation of one of its six reactors by reducing power , Ukraine’s state nuclear company, Energoatom, said.
Hours later, a second series of three explosions damaged an auxiliary building near one of the nuclear reactors, increasing the risk of hydrogen leaks and fires, the company said.
President Volodymyr Zelensky and other Ukrainian officials blamed Russia for the attacks.
“This is the largest nuclear power plant on our continent, and any bombing of this facility is an open and brazen crime, an act of terror,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his evening speech. “Russia should take responsibility for the very fact of creating a threat to the nuclear plant.”
The Russian defense ministry said it was Ukrainian forces that had bombed the plant, accusing them of an act of “nuclear terrorism”.
No radiation was emitted after the first explosions, the state nuclear company said. But the forced change in reactor operation underscored the growing danger.
Fighting has intensified in recent weeks near the nuclear complex, which the Russian military controls and is using as a stronghold, although Ukrainian engineers continue to operate it.
For about a month, Russia has used the site to launch artillery strikes against Ukrainian targets without fear of retaliation, as the Ukrainian military cannot fire without risking hitting security equipment, reactors or nuclear storage facilities. spent fuel Ukrainian officials say the Russians are aiming to disrupt a Ukrainian counteroffensive in the south of the country.
After Friday afternoon’s explosions knocked out a high-voltage power line, plant operators cut output from one of the reactors. Previously, three of the plant’s six reactors were operational, two were on standby and one was under planned repair.
It was unclear whether the reactor whose operation was disrupted on Friday was placed on standby, said Dmytro Orlov, a former plant engineer who is now the mayor of Enerhodar, where the plant is located .
“This is an unusual but not unpredictable event,” he said. “The staff was ready.” He likened it to the emergency response in the event that a power line is damaged by a forest fire or other accident.
Energoatom, the state power company, posted a statement on the Telegram social network saying Russian artillery fire had cut the power line. “The Russian military again resorted to provocation,” the company said. He said an industrial space on the complex’s grounds was hit three times, knocking out wiring and a transformer.
The statement said operators reduced production and disconnected one reactor from the power grid. “No emissions of radioactive substances were recorded,” the statement said.
Hours later, the energy company reported a second attack on Telegram, saying the Russians had fired three rocket-propelled grenades that landed near one of the nuclear reactors. The explosions, according to the statement, damaged an auxiliary building and a specialized station. “The fire danger is high,” the company said.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said it was aware of the reports and was seeking further information on the situation.
Ukrainian officials say they have little choice but to endure Russian bombing. In July, Ukraine’s military intelligence agency said it had used a precision-guided “kamikaze” drone, which explodes on contact with a target, to destroy a Russian rocket launcher and air defense system located about 150 meters from a reactor, without damaging the reactor. same
The IAEA has warned of the serious dangers of the plant’s situation. The cornerstones of nuclear safety, he said, are being removed from the plant even as it continues to operate. Among the deficiencies, he said, is a lack of physical security and regulatory oversight, which is now in limbo.
Britain’s defense ministry echoed those concerns on Friday. In its daily intelligence update, the ministry said Russian troops “likely undermined the security” of the plant by using it as a base to “target Ukrainian territory on the western bank of the Dnipro River.”
Fighting around the complex in March had sparked a fire that fueled global concern about a possible nuclear accident.
— Andrew E. Kramer and Cora Engelbrecht