By Bond Robertson 
short
- The security situation at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant has deteriorated after a new attack, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
- A cooling tower was damaged in a fire last week, with Ukraine and Russia blaming each other.
- The International Atomic Energy Agency reports intense military activity and warns that power plants cannot withstand direct military attacks.
This is what IAEA Secretary General Rafael Mariano Grossi said in an article. press releaseSaturday.
– Once again we see an escalation in the threats facing Zaporizhia. “I am deeply concerned and reiterate my appeal for maximum restraint from all sides,” Grossi said in the press release.
Last weekend, a fire damaged the cooling tower at the power plant. Following the fire, accusations flew between Ukraine and Russia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky believes Russian forces set fire to a power plant in the occupied city of Zaporizhia in southern Ukraine.
Meanwhile, the Russian management of the power plant accused Ukraine of being behind the fire. They claimed that Ukrainian forces had started the attack when they opened fire on the nearby town of Enerhodar.
– caused by a drone
The nuclear power plant has six reactors that are not currently operating. The plant relies on a stable power source to cool the nuclear materials.
Representatives from the International Atomic Energy Agency visited the reactor on Saturday.
The message they received from the Russian administration installed at the power plant said the impact was near one of the important cooling water diffusers and about 100 meters from the power plant's only remaining power source.
The team immediately visited the area and reported that the damage appeared to have been caused by a drone equipped with an explosive payload, the IAEA wrote.
View new trenches
– There are no signs of it slowing down.
No one was injured in the attack. There was no material damage to the plant itself. However, there must have been damage to the road between the two main gates of the power plant.
IAEA representatives reported intense military activity in the area over the past week, saying they heard several explosions, heavy machine gun fire and artillery shelling.
– There are no signs of a decrease in military activity around the power plant, they write further.
The IAEA also has representatives at the Khmelnytsky and Rivne nuclear power plants, as well as Chernobyl. In all of these areas, repeated aircraft alerts and drone attacks have been reported in the past week.
IAEA Director General Grossi said power plants are robust against technical or human errors, as well as extreme external events.
But it is not designed to withstand a direct military attack, nor should it, he says.