‘Rosatom’ is participating in seizure of Zaporizhzhya NPP - Head of ‘Energoatom’

Olha Hlushchenko - Saturday, 12 March 2022, 00:39

‘Rosatom’ State Holding, which includes several hundred nuclear companies in the aggressor country, is participating in the seizure of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant (NPP).

Source: Head of Ukrainian state nuclear company ‘Energoatom’ Petro Kotin cited by Interfax-Ukraine

Verbatim: "Today a group of civilians arrived in Energodar, among whom we identified the chief engineer of Rostov NPP and the deputy chief engineer of Balakovo NPP."

"There were eight other people trying to take the management of Zaporizhzhya NPP into their own hands. They were not allowed there. However, all these cases demonstrate that ‘Rosatom’ also took part in this aggression, and is essentially raiding now, trying to seize and control the nuclear power plant."

Details: According to Kotin, ‘Energoatom’ has already prepared an appeal to relevant international organisations, including the IAEA, to draw attention to the role and participation of ‘Rosatom’ in aggressive actions against Ukrainian nuclear power plants.

He also noted that before the visit of these civilians, another group of people came to the station. They identified themselves as representatives of the so-called civil-military administration, without giving their names, and declared Zaporizhzhya NPP the territory of Russia, which belongs under ‘Rosatom’ supervision.

"These statements are nonsense, but they said that. And our personnel have to work under the barrels of the invaders' machine guns. There are a lot of enemy soldiers and equipment at the Zaporizhzhya NPP site and in Energodar," the head of ‘Energoatom’ described the situation.

Addressing the situation with Chernobyl NPP, Kotin noted that there are many nuclear facilities on its territory, which contain radioactive waste and used nuclear fuel.

"Theoretically, anything can be done with this nuclear material. It is currently within the limits and structures in which it should be, so that it does not leak into the environment. [...] But if the invaders want to, of course, they can blow it up or something, and it will be spread throughout the territory. Then everything depends on the direction of the wind."

"Of course, it is suicide for them, too, if they dare to do so," Kotin said.

Background:

Nuclear safety at the Zaporizhzhya NPP  was compromised on the night of March 4. Reactors were in danger due to Russian shelling and fire at the plant.

Firefighters were not allowed to put out the fire caused by the fighting, but later they could access the plant and at 06:20 the fire was extinguished.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the world community and said that no one had ever shelled nuclear power plants, the Russians were blackmailing the world with an explosion and the world was threatened by a global catastrophe.

There are 6 power units in Energodar. In 1986 one power unit exploded at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. In total, there are 15 nuclear units in Ukraine.