A fire broke out in Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant in Ukraine after a Russian attack. Firefighters could not put out the blaze as Russian troops kept on shooting at them, the mayor of a town near Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant said.
Ukraine’s emergency services said this morning they have gained access to the nuclear power plant. “As of 05:20 at the Zaporizhzhia NPP in Energodar, State Emergency Service units went to put out the fire in the training building,” the state emergency services wrote on Facebook, noting that 40 people and 10 vehicles were involved in the operation.
Local authorities reported no immediate radiation rise was detected and “essential” equipment was unaffected by the fire, but it remained unclear what the invading forces planned next.
US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said the reactors at Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station “are protected by robust containment structures and reactors are being safely shut down”. Ms Granholm tweeted she had just spoken with Ukraine’s energy minister about the situation at the plant. “We have seen no elevated radiation readings near the facility,” Ms Granholm said.
Ukraine’s President Volodymr Zelensky accused Moscow of trying to “repeat” the Chernobyl nuclear disaster and said he had spoken with international leaders including US President Joe Biden about the crisis at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.