Ukraine warns russia is diverting emergency fuel from Zaporizhia power plant, top nuclear regulator says

russian forces occupying the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant are siphoning off diesel fuel intended for the facility’s backup generators, raising uncertainty about how long emergency supplies can keep the plant running. 

Ukraine is coordinating with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and other international partners about the situation, said Oleh Korikov, head of Ukraine’s State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate and chief state inspector for nuclear and radiation safety. While global partners support efforts to restore power to the plant, Korikov said, russia continues to use the facility as an instrument of “nuclear blackmail and terror.”

“When the plant was cut off from the grid, the occupiers claimed there was enough diesel to run the generators for 10 days,” Korikov said at a briefing at the Media Center Ukraine. “Today is already the ninth day of the emergency. We now have information that the occupiers are consuming this fuel not only for the plant’s generators, but also for other facilities, such as boilers and refueling certain equipment. That means no one knows how long the reserves will last, or whether they can be replenished. They may simply run out.”

Read more: https://mediacenter.org.ua/news