“However, the operator has reported that the situation remains very challenging and therefore it has not yet been possible to access the whole site to assess that all safety systems are fully functional,” he said. All radiation monitoring systems remain functional. The safety systems of the plant’s six reactors have not been affected and “there has been no release of radioactive material,” Grossi said in a statement. He added that the plant continues to be operated by its regular staff, but that Ukraine had informed the IAEA that Russian forces had taken control of the site. Grossi said at a press conference hours after the attack that Ukraine had informed the IAEA that a projectile overnight had hit a training building in the vicinity of one of the plant’s reactor units, which caused the localized fire that was later extinguished.

The fire reportedly broke out in a training building outside the power plant amidst intense fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces, Ukraine’s state emergency service said Thursday night. “The safety and security of nuclear facilities, and nuclear and other radioactive material, in Ukraine must under no circumstances be endangered,” Grossi told the 35-member IAEA Board of Governors. Still, Grossi said the conflict’s potential to threaten the security of the four operating nuclear power plants and other facilities in Ukraine should not be underestimated. The Chernobyl site in Ukraine was taken over by Russian forces early on the invasion, which has now been ongoing for over a week. Analysts told the AP that because it is a different reactor than the type used at Chernobyl, there should be a minimal risk if the containment vessel is not damaged and outside power can be restored. The plant accounts for about one-quarter of the country’s power generation, The Associated Press reported. It is the largest plant on the continent and is “the capital of the energy workers of Ukraine,” Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s Ministry of Internal Affairs, told The Washington Post. The nuclear plant is located in the city of Enerhodar and can be found on the banks of the Dnieper River in Ukraine.

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