Explosions damage western Ukraine nuclear power plant

Another nuclear power plant in Ukraine is now at risk because of nearby combat, the International Atomic Energy Agency said.

Explosions blew out window glass and shook the foundations of the Khmelnitsky Nuclear Power Plant (KhNPP) in western Ukraine overnight on Oct. 24, shattering windows at the site and temporarily cutting power to some off-site radiation monitoring stations, the IAEA said in a statement. 

The incident “once again highlight[s] the dangers to nuclear safety and security during the ongoing military conflict,” IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said.

IAEA experts present at the plant said air raid sirens sounded in the early morning, followed by two loud explosions. They later learned that two drones had been shot down, one just three miles away.

“This incident again underlines the extremely precarious nuclear safety situation in Ukraine, which will continue as long as this tragic war goes on. 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. “Hitting a nuclear power plant must be avoided at all costs.”

There was no direct impact from the drones on the site and the blasts did not affect plant operation or its connection to the national electricity grid, the IAEA said. 

Shockwaves from the blasts were powerful enough to damage the windows of several buildings at the site, including the passageway to the reactor buildings, an integrated auxiliary building, a special equipment building, IAEA officials at the plant said. 

The IAEA also continues to monitor operations at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in eastern Ukraine, which has been under Russian occupation since the all-out invasion in February 2022. The plant has recently sent more another of its six reactors into hot shutdown has also started operating mobile diesel boilers as part of efforts to generate more heating during the winter, the IAEA said.