Russia isn’t imminently turning on Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, says UN official

Vienna: Inspectors from the UN nuclear watchdog haven’t seen signs of Russia moving to immediately restart the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, an agency official said Thursday, after Greenpeace raised concerns about Moscow building power lines near the facility.

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe with six reactors and one of the world’s 10 biggest, has been a focus of concern for the International Atomic Energy Agency and the world during the war amid fears of a potential nuclear catastrophe. The plant has been held by Russia since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, though it isn’t producing power.

The city of Zaporizhzhia, about 440 km southeast of Kyiv, is held by Ukraine and attacks have occurred around the plant as the front line is close. The IAEA rotates staff through the facility to check the plant’s safety and offer its expertise.

Greenpeace sees power line construction

In a report Tuesday, Greenpeace said that satellite photos showed Russia had been building “an electricity high voltage power line” in Russia-held areas of Ukraine’s Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions. An Associated Press analysis of satellite photos from Planet Labs PBC of the same area also showed the construction of power lines and pylons.

“This is some of the first hard evidence of Russian moving ahead with its dangerous and illegal plans for restarting Ukraine and Europe’s largest nuclear plant at Zaporizhzhia,” said Shaun Burnie, a nuclear specialist at Greenpeace Ukraine, in a statement.