The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has begun field support for four more nuclear power plants in Ukraine in response to a request from the country, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said in a video statement Thursday.
The four additional factories are Rivne, Khmelnytskyi, South Ukraine and Chernobyl. Since September, IAEA experts have been providing on-site support to Zaporizhzhia, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, which has been occupied by Russian troops.
Following Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, the operational nuclear power plants of Zaporizhzhia, Rivne, Southern Ukraine and Khmelnytskyi were disconnected from the power grid and “forced to rely on emergency diesel generators for the electricity they needed to ensure their continued safety and security said Grossi.
“This unprecedented situation would have been unthinkable months ago. It is very worrying,” he said.
“We must do everything we can to prevent a nuclear accident at one of these nuclear facilities, which would only add to the appalling suffering we are already witnessing in Ukraine. Now is the time to act.”
Some context: Wednesday marked the first time in 40 years that Ukraine’s four operational nuclear power plants were shut down simultaneously, state nuclear power company Energoatom said in a statement. Petro Kotin said it was a precautionary measure and he expected them to be reconnected by Thursday evening. The three fully functioning plants in Ukrainian hands would help supply electricity to the national power grid, he said.
Ukraine is heavily dependent on nuclear energy, according to the World Nuclear Association. It has 15 reactors in four plants that generated about half of its electricity before Russia’s full-scale invasion in February.
Russia has turned its attention to destroying Ukraine’s energy infrastructure ahead of the bitter winter season, and successive waves of strikes have left much of the country with continued blackouts.