Attacks on Zaporozhye NPP’s SNF storage site create threats to nuclear safety

MELITOPOL, August 28. /TASS/. Ukraine’s attacks on the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant’s (ZNPP) dry spent nuclear fuel (SNF) storage facility pose a threat to nuclear security, the plant’s said.

A Ukrainian drone attacked the ZNPP’s dry SNF storage site on August 26. No serious damage was done, no casualties were reported. The radiation background is within the normal levels, the plant said.

"Any attacks in the vicinity of such a facility are inadmissible as they pose a potential threat to nuclear security. An attack on the dry SNF storage site is dangerous primarily due to the potential damage to the complex’s infrastructure and containers holding spent nuclear fuel. The consequences of such actions cannot be ignored - they could create additional risks and require complex measures to ensure the facility’s security," according to a post on the ZNPP’s channel in messaging app Max.

The dry SNF storage site is a "reliable and unique facility, built with a large safety margin and designed for the long-term safe storage of fuel," it said. August 24 marked the 25th anniversary of the installation of the first container of spent nuclear fuel at the storage site and the start of pilot operation of this ZNPP facility.

Currently, the facility holds 173 containers. The site is designed to safely store up to 380 containers for 50 years, the ZNPP said, adding that the site is regularly checked by specialists and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors deployed to the nuclear plant.

Earlier in the day, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi called for the utmost restraint following three Ukrainian drone attacks on the ZNPP on August 25 and 26. On August 25, a drone exploded near the plant’s cooling pond. Two Zaporozhye NPP employees were injured in the incident. The next day, another drone exploded on the grounds of the plant’s dry spent nuclear fuel storage facility. On the same day, a third drone struck a sprinkler system at the plant’s power units. On August 27, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Russian calls on the IAEA to take measures against the Kiev regime in connection with the strikes on the Zaporozhye NPP.