russian military actions at the ZNPP are nuclear terrorism – State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine

Following the consideration of the Board of the State Inspection of Nuclear Regulation of Ukraine, the meeting of which was devoted in particular to the security situation at the Zaporizhzhya NPP and took place on August 4, 2022, it was established that from March 4, 2022, the industrial site of the ZNPP is under the "control" of the russian military. During the capture of the nuclear power plant by the armed forces of the Russian Federation, its site was fired with small arms and artillery systems of various calibers, as a result of which the systems and elements of the NPP power units and infrastructure buildings were damaged.

At the same time, communication with the power plant personnel is constantly maintained, information on the parameters and modes of operation of the power units is updated daily and made public due to remote control and radiation monitoring systems ensuring data transfer to the IAEA IRMIS system.

Operational personnel of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant continue to work and monitor the state of safety of power units and make maximum efforts to ensure their safe operation. Staff rotation takes place on a permanent basis. No changes in the radiation status at the ZNPP site, in the sanitary protection zone, and in the observation zone were recorded.

During the meeting, the Board of the State Inspection of Nuclear Regulation of Ukraine came to the conclusion that the conduct of active hostilities in the area where the ZNPP is located, the presence of the russian military at the nuclear plant site, and their unpredictable actions may lead to some catastrophic consequences. In particular, to make it impossible for personnel to perform direct power unit management functions, to prevent the use of additional technical means introduced at ZNPP power units given the experience of the accident at the Fukushima NPP, and to prevent the units of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine from extinguishing fires and responding to other possible accidents.

Furthermore, the actions of the russian military may lead to the impossibility of protecting personnel and the general public of the temporarily occupied territory in the vicinity of the ZNPP site in the event of a nuclear/radiation accident, etc.

The Board also concluded that deployment a military arsenal on the ZNPP site may lead (as a result of its direct use or detonation) to damage to systems and elements important for the safety of ZNPP nuclear installations. Therefore, depending on the features of the operational state of the nuclear installation and the nature of the damage, in the most unfavorable case, severe damage to the nuclear fuel may occur within a few hours, followed by radioactive contamination of the environment and radiation exposure of personnel and the general public.

Given that and in accordance with the requirements of the current legislation, the Board of the State Inspection of Nuclear Regulation of Ukraine made a decision to recognize the actions of the russian military at the ZNPP site and the placement of military equipment with ammunition, weapons and explosives directly next to nuclear installations as an act of nuclear terrorism.

Moreover, the Board decided: the issue of suspending/amending licenses for the operation of nuclear installations of power units No. 1 and No. 2 of Zaporizhzhya NPP should be considered as soon as possible at a meeting of the Licensing Commission of the State Inspection of Nuclear Regulation of Ukraine.

In accordance with the Board's decision, SE "NNEGC "Energoatom" should also take measures as soon as possible to determine the safe configuration of the ZNPP power units under the occupation of the nuclear plant site by the russian military and the conduct of hostilities in the area of ​​its location.