In a statement Emitted by his spokesperson, António Guterres expressed his alarm in the face of dangerous escalation and the growing bankruptcy of civilians.
He reiterated that attacks on civilians and critical infrastructure is prohibited under international law and have called for an immediate and unconditional cease-fire.
“These strikes disturbed the power supply to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, stressing once again the risks for nuclear security,” said UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric.
“The secretary general reiterates his call to a complete, immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Ukraine as the first step towards a fair, complete and lasting peace, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nationsinternational law and relevant United Nations resolutions. »»
Fragile situation
Friday, the air strikes broke the last external connection of the nuclear power plant, forcing the ZNPP to count on emergency diesel generators for more than three hours, according to International Atomic Energy Agency (Aiea).
The food was finally restored, but the incident marked the ninth time that the factory has lost all the electricity out of site since the start of the large -scale invasion in 2022.
Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of the nuclear guard dog, warned that the situation remains extremely fragile.
“What was once practically unimaginable-that a large nuclear power plant would repeatedly lose all its external power connections-has unfortunately become common,” he said.
Nuclear security deterioration
Located in southern Ukraine, the Zaporizhzhia factory is the largest nuclear installation in Europe. Although its six reactors have been in cold stop since 2024, they always require electricity to cool the reactor nuclei and the fuel pools spent to prevent overheating and potential radioactive release.
During the power failure, 18 diesel generators were activated to maintain critical cooling functions. The factory has enough diesel on site for at least ten days, with emergency plans in place to obtain other supplies if necessary, IAEA reported.
The ZNPP has become radically more vulnerable since the start of the war. Before the conflict, he had access to ten external power lines; He is now counting on one.
The IAEA teams remain based on the site and continue to monitor the situation closely.
Originally published at Almouwatin.com
