A Plant Under Occupation
The Zaporizhzhia plant was built by the Soviet Union on the southern shore of the Kakhovka Reservoir along the Dnieper River. Its reactors came online between 1985 and 1995, making it the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. For decades, operated by the state enterprise Energoatom, it supplied a significant portion of Ukraine’s electricity. That era ended when Russian forces captured the facility days after the full-scale invasion began in 2022. Since then, the International Atomic Energy Agency has recorded multiple incidents of lost off-site power — most recently on October 12, 2024 — each one heightening anxiety about cooling-system integrity.
The plant relies on a steady supply of cooling water to keep both reactors and spent fuel pools safe. Before the war, that water came from the Kakhovka Reservoir. After a dam on that reservoir was destroyed in 2023, cooling water had to be drawn from groundwater wells. The loss of the reservoir added a new layer of risk to an already precarious situation, creating a nuclear safety challenge with no peacetime precedent: an active war zone around a large nuclear power station that can no longer depend on its original cooling source.
A Nuclear-Dependent Grid
Ukraine’s energy sector is deeply intertwined with nuclear power. As of 2021, the country’s nuclear fleet — four plants totaling 15 reactors — supplied about 55 percent of its electricity. That dependency means every incident at these facilities is not merely a radiological threat but also an economic vulnerability. Any prolonged disruption at Zaporizhzhia — whether from a loss of off-site power, damage to cooling systems, or a deliberate attack — could cascade into both a radiological emergency and an energy shortage.
The war has already seen other nuclear sites affected. Russian forces occupied the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant, site of the 1986 catastrophe, from February 24 to March 31, 2022. During that occupation, radiation monitoring was disrupted. Then, on September 19, 2022, Russia shelled the Pivdennoukrainsk Nuclear Power Plant in Mykolaiv Oblast. That shelling damaged a reactor building. IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi has been warning of a nuclear accident risk since September 2022. That same month, the agency established a permanent presence at all Ukrainian nuclear plants.
The IAEA’s Indispensable Eyes
The IAEA’s permanent monitoring teams are the only independent eyes on these facilities. Their reports are the primary source of verifiable data on reactor status, radiation levels, and cooling-system integrity. Without them, the world would be guessing. The question now is whether the IAEA can sustain that presence as fighting intensifies. Grossi has not signaled any withdrawal, but the agency’s ability to rotate staff in and out of active war zones is not infinite. If the monitors leave, the information vacuum will be filled by whoever controls the plant — and that is not a reliable source.
The significance of the Zaporizhzhia plant’s predicament extends beyond a single facility. It represents a nuclear safety challenge that the international community has never confronted in wartime: a large nuclear power station operating under hostile occupation, deprived of its original cooling source, and surrounded by active combat. The IAEA’s continued monitoring is the only independent check on conditions inside the plant. Whether that presence can be maintained as the war grinds on remains an open question.
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