Rosatom urges Europe to ease Zaporizhzhia nuclear tensions

Russian nuclear energy agency Rosatom on Monday called on Europe to help de-escalate tensions around the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, state news agency Tass reported.

Director General Alexey Likhachev underlined that the situation surrounding the plant is “at a point of no return.”

“And all of Europe needs to intensify its efforts now to de-escalate the situation around the Zaporizhzhia NPP,” he said. “It is moving too quickly toward the point of no return.”

Likhachev underlined that escalation at the nuclear plant also pose a danger to Eastern European countries.

“Everything is close by, all the borders of Eastern European countries are literally hundreds of kilometers from the Zaporizhzhia NPP. And I would like to point out that this playing with fire is primarily dangerous for Eastern European countries,” he added.

The situation around the plant, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant and one of the world’s 10 largest, remains tense as concerns persist over a possible nuclear disaster, with Moscow and Kyiv frequently accusing each other of attacks around the facility.

From September 2022, International Atomic Energy Agency personnel have been present at the plant, which has been under Russian control since March 2022.