The U.S. continues to monitor the conditions at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant following reports about strikes on the plant's main reactor containment, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said at a press conference on April 8.
"You have heard from us before our belief that Russia is playing a very dangerous game with its military seizure of Ukraine’s nuclear power plant, which is the largest in Europe," Miller noted. "It’s dangerous that they’ve done that and we continue to call on Russia to withdraw its military and civilian personnel from the plant, to return full control of the plant to the competent Ukrainian authorities, and refrain from taking any actions that could result in a nuclear incident at the plant."
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported on April 7 that the main reactor containment structures of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant had been directly struck at least three times. This marks the initial verified strike of its kind since November 2022.
The IAEA said on X that drone strikes had caused physical impact at one of the plant's six reactors and one casualty. "Damage at unit 6 has not compromised nuclear safety, but this is a serious incident with potential to undermine integrity of the reactor’s containment system," the IAEA wrote.
The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, the largest nuclear plant in Europe, has been under Russian occupation since March 2022. IAEA teams have been based at the facility on rotation since September 2022.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
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