By KYIV. Oct 26 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is assessing the extent of the damage caused by the fall of two Russian drones shot down by the Ukrainian military on Wednesday night five and 20 kilometers from the Khmelnytsky nuclear power plant (NPP) site.
“The exact extent of the damage is currently being assessed by the IAEA team and further information will be provided,” the agency said on its website Wednesday evening.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi, with reference to information from the plant, said that there was no direct impact from the drones on the site and the blasts did not affect the KhNPP’s operations or its connection to the national electricity grid. However, the shockwaves damaged the windows of several buildings at the site, including the passageway to the reactor buildings, an auxiliary building, a special equipment building, the training centre, as well as other facilities.
A power outage in the nearby region of Slavuta forced two of the plant’s 11 off-site radiation monitoring stations to temporarily rely on back-up power supplies before external electricity was restored in the afternoon. Furthermore, as a result of damage sustained in the nearby town of Netishyn, some KhNPP staff were working from home.
According to the IAEA Director General, the seismic monitoring stations installed in the vicinity of the KhNPP also recorded the seismic impacts of the blasts.
“The fact that numerous windows at the site were destroyed shows just how close it was. Next time, we may not be so fortunate,” Grossi said, stressing that hitting the nuclear power plant must be avoided at all costs.
The IAEA said that the KhNPP has two reactors, of which one is currently operating, and one is in planned outage since early August.
The agency added that the IAEA was notified about these events also via the Unified System for Information Exchange in Incidents and Emergencies by the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine.
As reported, on Wednesday night, Russian troops shelled the area near the Khmelnytsky nuclear power plant. According to the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine, as a result of the blasts, windows in the administrative and amenity and laboratory buildings were damaged. Due to damage to power lines, 1,860 consumers were left without power in the cities of Slavuta and Netishyn, Khmelnytsky region.
