Ukraine Shells Thermal Power Plant Crucial to Zaporozhye Facility’s Safety — Rosatom CEO
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MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Ukrainian forces have spent the past two weeks striking the Zaporozhye Thermal Power Plant, whose operation is essential to the safety of the Zaporozhye Nuclear Station, Rosatom CEO Alexey Likhachev said Monday. «Over the past two weeks, the Ukrainian armed forces have been systematically shelling the territory of the Zaporozhye Thermal Power Plant (TPP)— the second energy facility in Energodar. The plant is not a nuclear facility, so it is of no interest to the international community. Yet, the safety of the nuclear power plant directly depends on the operational status of the equipment located on the premises of the Zaporozhye Thermal Power Plant. We are talking about the electrical equipment located on the premises of the Zaporozhye TPP, which redirects electricity from the Ferrosplavnaya high‑voltage lines to the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant,» Likhachev told reporters. Energodar is also under fire, the CEO said, adding that about 70 facilities that make up the municipal, social, and commercial infrastructure of the city have been destroyed because of artillery shelling and drone attacks, and about 50 more have been damaged. «It was not calm at the Zaporozhye plant itself at night. Two facilities were attacked at once: the laboratory building, located 200 meters [656 feet] from units 4 and 5, and the building for processing radioactive waste,» Likhachev said. In both cases, the roof was damaged, but this does not pose a threat to nuclear safety, the CEO added. «On Sunday, our comrade was killed again. A van carrying food for the NPP staff was attacked by a drone. The driver, a station employee, was killed,» Likhachev said. Later in the day, the plant’s press service said that radiation levels at the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant were normal and there had been no casualties.
"The situation is under the staff's control. Safety parameters are being monitored around the clock. Radiation levels at the industrial site and within the sanitary protection zone do not exceed established limits … There are no casualties. The roof is damaged. There is no threat to nuclear safety as a result of these attacks," the press service said on social media.
Even though the attacks have so far not threatened nuclear safety, any strikes on the plant’s territory remain dangerous, the press service stressed.
RussiaZaporozhye Power Plant Subjected to Over 750 Strikes by Ukrainian Drones in 4.5 Months — Rosatom14 September, 12:12 GMT
