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Zelensky warns Russian drones endanger safety at nuclear power plants
['Hanna Arhirova', 'Barry Hatton', 'Associated Press']
Irish News
Russia’s sustained bombardment of Ukraine’s power grid is deepening concerns about the safety of the country’s nuclear facilities after a drone knocked out power for more than three hours to the site of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
While both Chernobyl and the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant are not working, they still require a constant power supply to run crucial cooling systems for spent fuel rods in order to avoid a potential nuclear incident.
Zaporizhzhia is Europe’s biggest atomic power plant.
“Every day of Russia’s war, every strike on our energy facilities, including those connected to nuclear safety, is a global threat,” Mr Zelensky said.
Mr Zelensky blamed Russian artillery for cutting the power line to the plant, but Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was Ukrainian shelling.