Radiation levels normal after attack on nuclear power plant in Ukraine

Radiation levels at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine are normal following a drone attack on Saturday, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported on Sunday.

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The damage corresponds to the impact of a drone attack.

IAEA staff on-site assessed damage to a metal hatch on a turbine building, noting that the damage "corresponds to the impact of a drone attack." The agency's team requested access to the building itself. During their inspection on Sunday morning, the team heard drones and "shots to deter them" nearby, forcing them to seek cover, the IAEA stated.

The agency did not immediately attribute the attack to any specific party. Russia accused Ukraine of flying the drone toward the nuclear facility, a claim that Ukraine's military dismissed as "another propaganda ploy." IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi had previously described the drone attack as a serious incident that increased the risk of a nuclear accident, emphasizing that "there should be no attack of any kind from or towards the plant."

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There shall be no attack of any kind from or towards the plant.

While the drone and explosion did not damage the plant's central functions, they created a hole in the wall of one of the turbine halls, according to Aleksey Likhachev, the head of Russia's state nuclear agency Rosatom. Russia has controlled the Zaporizhzhia plant since March 2022. Before the full-scale invasion, the plant supplied about one-fifth of Ukraine's electricity.

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Attacking nuclear facilities is like playing with fire.