Update 314 – IAEA Director General Statement on Situation in Ukraine

The IAEA team based at Ukraine's Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) reported hearing shelling close to the site today and saw black smoke rising from three locations nearby, in the latest incident highlighting continuous nuclear safety risks during the military conflict, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said.

The team was informed by the ZNPP that multiple artillery shells had struck an area outside the ZNPP site parameter around 400 metres from the plant's off-site diesel fuel storage facility, also known as the diesel fuel farm. This incident is believed to have sparked fires in the affected vegetation, which are under control.

This information was in line with the team's own observations of sporadic shelling being heard for about two hours from 1:26pm local time, including three rounds close to the site at around 2:30pm. Gunfire was also heard. Smoke from locations outside the site was later observed by the team from the ZNPP's main administrative building. The team was not yet able to visit the area of the reported shelling but will request it tomorrow morning provided the security situation allows it.

While there were no reports of casualties or equipment damage, the incident once again underlined the constant dangers to nuclear safety and security, Director General Grossi said.

"As I told the IAEA's General Conference yesterday, military action still endangers the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant. What was once virtually unimaginable - shelling or other military activity taking place close to major nuclear facilities - has become a regular occurrence during this horrific war. I've repeatedly called for maximum military restraint near nuclear power plants and I do so again today. This must stop before it is too late", Director General Grossi said.

In his statement to the General Conference, the annual gathering of the IAEA's Member States, Director General Grossi also said that the Agency's teams deployed at Ukraine's other nuclear sites - Chornobyl and the Rivne, South Ukraine and Khmelnytskyy NPPs - have all reported "a significant increase in military activities in recent weeks".