Kyiv, Ukraine (AP) — Authorities began distributing iodine tablets to residents near Ukraine’s Zaporozhye nuclear power plant on Friday to prevent radiation leaks amid growing fears that fighting around the plant could spark a disaster.
The move comes a day after the factory was temporarily taken offline due to what officials said was a fire on a transmission line. In a country still reeling from the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear explosion, the event fueled fears of a nuclear catastrophe.
Shelling reportedly continued overnight in the area, and Planet Labs satellite imagery showed fires raging around Europe’s largest nuclear power plant complex over the past few days.
Iodine tablets were distributed in the Ukrainian-controlled city of Zaporozhye, about 45 kilometers (27 miles) from the nuclear power plant, to help stop the thyroid from absorbing radioactive iodine in a nuclear accident. A woman and her young daughter were also among those receiving the pills.
AP Photo/Andriy Andriyenko
The United Nations Atomic Energy Agency has been trying to send a team to inspect and help protect the plant. Officials said preparations for the trip were underway, but it was unclear when.
The Zaporozhye factory has been occupied by Russian troops and run by Ukrainian workers since the beginning of the 6-month war. Both sides have repeatedly accused each other of shelling the scene.
In Thursday’s incident, Ukraine and Russia blamed each other for damage to transmission lines that took the plant off the grid.
What went wrong is unclear, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the plant’s emergency backup diesel generators had to be activated to provide electricity to the complex.
The plant needs electricity to run the reactor’s vital cooling system. Loss of cooling can lead to nuclear meltdown.
Ukraine’s transmission system operator Ukrenergo reported on Friday that two damaged main lines supplying the plant had been restored, ensuring a stable power supply.
The country’s nuclear power agency, Energoatom, said the plant was reconnected to the grid and was producing electricity “for Ukraine’s needs.”
“The nuclear workers at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant are true heroes! They work tirelessly and steadfastly to maintain nuclear and radiation safety in Ukraine and across Europe,” the agency said in a statement.
However, officials at the Russian installation in the Zaporozhye region said the plant only supplies power to Russian-controlled areas of the country and not to the rest of Ukraine.
Concerns about the site have reverberated across Europe.
French President Emmanuel Macron said the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency should be allowed to visit “very quickly”, warning: “Civilian nuclear energy must never be used as a tool of war.”
Lana Zekar, adviser to the Ukrainian energy minister, told Ukrainian media that the logistics of the IAEA visit were still being worked out. Zelkar accused Russia of trying to sabotage the visit.
Ukraine claims Russia is using the plant as a shield, storing weapons there and launching attacks from around it. Moscow has accused Ukraine of recklessly firing on the site.
Zaporozhye’s reactors are protected by thick reinforced concrete containment domes that experts say can withstand the wrong shells. Instead, many concerns focus on the possible loss of cooling systems and the risk that an attack on the cooling pool that houses the spent fuel rods could disperse radioactive material.
Dnipropetrovsk Governor Valentin Reznichenko said Russia continued to shell the Zaporozhye factory and the city of Nikopol across the Dnieper River, damaging 10 houses, a school and a medical facilities, but no casualties were reported.
