Disaster Fears After Explosives Found Inside Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant

Observers from the United Nations nuclear energy watchdog have found explosives inside Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Ukrainian media has reported.

A small team from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is at the nuclear plant, which is Europe's biggest and was seized by Moscow early in its invasion of Ukraine.

Operated by Ukrainian staff working under Russian forces and the Russian nuclear company Rosatom, the hostilities at the site, in which both sides accused the other of shelling, have sparked international alarm at what might happen if the reactors were impacted.

British intelligence said last week that Russian forces had built fighting positions atop reactor buildings at the plant in the town of Enerhodar, which is located around 300 miles from the site of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe. The U.K.'s defense ministry said that "direct catastrophic damage to the reactors" is unlikely "because the structures are very heavily reinforced."

IAEA representatives told Ukraine's State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate on Wednesday that Russians had placed military equipment, weapons, and explosives in the turbine hall of ZNPP's fourth reactor, the New Voice of Ukraine reported.

However, the IAEA told Newsweek in a statement it "has not reported that explosives have been placed in reactor unit 4 at ZNPP."

The SNRI said that such equipment had first been spotted at the facility in late July 2022 and that it posed significant hazards to the plant's personnel and residents of nearby settlements, the New Voice of Ukraine. Ukraine accuses Russia of using the site as cover for its forces.

There is international concern at the nuclear power plant getting caught up in the hostilities. Mark Nelson, founder of the Radiant Energy Fund and an adviser on nuclear energy, told Newsweek that the wider public was not at risk by the situation at the plant, but the biggest danger was faced by the staff members who were held there.

"[The risk] is to the staff members of Europe's largest nuclear plant and the cost and time to restore the plant to operation after the war."

"All reactors have been [switched] off for months. This means every day that passes, less effort is needed to keep nuclear material cool and safe.

"The workers have been in an incredibly stressful situation for over a year. They managed the most serious issues early, the safe shutdown and cooling of the reactors that were in operation when the plant was captured," he said.

Nelson said that the sites' reactors were close together but have independent safety features. "Even the Chernobyl blast at Reactor 4 in 1986 did not prevent Reactor 3 from continuing to run and indeed sharing a turbine building until 2000," he said.

This week, Ukraine's nuclear operator Energoatom said that Russian-installed managers at the plant were trying to leave the site in south-eastern Ukraine over concerns about Kyiv's anticipated counteroffensive.

Newsweek has emailed Energoatom and the Russian defense ministry for comment.

Update 05/04/23, 12.30 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with comment from the IAEA.