Ukraine has called for a permanent mission of nuclear and military experts at the Zaporizhzhia power plant to protect “the security of Europe”, as fears increase about the risk of a nuclear disaster at the Russian-occupied site.
German Galushchenko, Ukraine’s energy minister, said he was hopeful that a long-term mission of nuclear experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency and UN officials as well as military personnel “from any country [but] not Russians” could be sent at the beginning of September to help secure the plant.
His comments came as Ukraine marks its 31st year of independence from Soviet rule on the day Moscow’s full-scale invasion of its territory hits the six-month mark, heightening fears that Russia could increase military activity around Zaporizhzhia.
“If there were international experts inside the grid that would make obstacles for [the Russians] to shell or to do crazy things; to put in any military vehicles and to bring additional soldiers,” Galushchenko told the Financial Times. “In my feeling [Moscow] would be against some permanent format but this is not a question for Russia [but] a question about the security of Europe,” he said.
Calls for an international mission to examine Zaporizhzhia had been met with resistance from both sides as it would require a ceasefire around the plant and agreement on who would host the group. Ukraine argued that the arrival of a delegation would legitimise Russia’s presence at the plant.
But Galushchenko said Kyiv’s position had changed after explosions near the plant’s switchboard in early August caused the shutdown of the electrical power transformer and two back-up transformers, as well as damaging radiation detectors on the site.
“We expect that this mission can only come through Ukrainian territory,” he said. Galushchenko also denied Russian suggestions that there had been Ukrainian shelling around the plant. Kyiv says Russia is using the site to launch attacks across the Dnipro river since it seized the plant in March.
Rafael Mariano Grossi, IAEA director-general, said on Wednesday that he was “continuing to consult very actively and intensively with all parties so that this vital IAEA mission can take place without further delay” and that he expected it to go ahead “within the next few days if negotiations succeed”. Galushchenko has previously voiced concerns about the number of Russian officials on the IAEA board.
Last week French president Emmanuel Macron said he had reached an agreement with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to push ahead with an urgent IAEA mission that would approach the plant from the Ukrainian side.
The situation at the nuclear plant, Europe’s largest in terms of power generating capacity, was raised on a call between the leaders of France, the US, Germany and the UK last weekend. The Kremlin has not confirmed that it would support an IAEA delegation approaching from the Ukrainian side but has said experts may be able to visit the plant in early September.
The plant, part of a swath of southern territory including the cities of Zaporizhzhia and Enerhodar which Russia occupied in the first weeks of its six-month-long invasion, is being operated by Ukrainian employees overseen by Russian troops and representatives from its state-owned nuclear company Rosatom.
Fears that Russia could increase military activity around Zaporizhzhia intensified after Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that Russia had failed in an attempt to disconnect Zaporizhzhia from the Ukrainian grid.
Galushchenko said that “technically it is quite difficult” to disconnect the plant from the grid but if it was, it would be “the first step to nuclear catastrophe in Europe”. A Ukrainian official explained that this was because if back-up generators failed, a power outage could stop key safety machinery around the plant from working.
In July the energy minister, who has worked in the foreign affairs and justice ministries as well as at state-owned nuclear company Energoatom, lobbied EU ministers to increase energy imports from Ukraine. Kyiv could supply around 1.7 gigawatts of electricity to the EU, Galushchenko said, up from the current rate of 250 megawatts.
The increased export revenues would help support Ukraine’s depleted economy including its energy producers. Galushchenko said industrial energy demand had dropped by 40 per cent, while consumer requirements had fallen by a tenth as a result of the war, giving Kyiv spare electricity capacity to export.
The minister described it as a “win-win” situation for Europe, which is struggling with record high gas prices and dramatic cuts to energy supplies by Russia in retaliation for the EU’s support for Ukraine.
The European Commission said an increase in imports from Ukraine would “be assessed in the coming weeks and months based on power system stability and security considerations”.