Russian drones near South Ukrainian NPP forced IAEA team to take cover

Experts of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) recorded three cases of drone flights near the South Ukrainian NPP last week.

This was reported on the website of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

According to the IAEA team, the drones flew at night at a distance of 1.5 to 6 kilometers from the plant. No damage or casualties were reported at the plant.

It is also reported that the agency's team was forced to seek shelter twice. One of these incidents occurred late in the evening of September 18, when the sound of drones and gunfire was heard.

In the evening of September 18 and on the night of September 19, air defense forces and means were actively engaged in combat operations in Mykolaiv region. 18 drones were destroyed.

As a result of large-scale Russian shelling on August 26, the operation of the Rivne and South Ukrainian nuclear power plants was disrupted. Four power units at the plants were temporarily disconnected from the grid. Thus, on August 26 at 08:58, power units 1, 3 and 4 at the Rivne NPP were shut down. In addition, at 09:05 Eastern European time, the power units of the South Ukrainian Nuclear Power Plant reduced their capacity to a total of 1800 MW.

Later, after the Russian attack ended, at 17:05, due to fluctuations in the national power grid, unit 3 at the South Ukrainian NPP also shut down.

In early July, Oleksandr Kharchenko , director of the Energy Research Center, said that severe blackouts in the left-bank part of Ukraine were related to the shutdown of the reactor at the South Ukrainian NPP. According to him, the fire led to the disconnection of one of the reactors from the grid, which led to the disconnection of several high-voltage lines already in the Ukrenergo network.

In response, the Ministry of Energy emphasized that the information disseminated in the media by various experts regarding the accidents at the South Ukrainian NPP is hostile to the IPSO. Unpredictable emergencies are currently occurring "because the equipment is currently operating at maximum technical capabilities."

In early August, in Mykolaiv, the Minister of Energy also announced that the purpose of fakes about the accident at the South Ukrainian NPP is to discredit nuclear energy. The plant is currently one of the main sources of electricity for the country.

Ірина Глухова