IAEA chief calls for special status for Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant

A special status must be defined for the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) as part of any plan to end the war in Ukraine, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi told Reuters on Nov. 25.

Grossi said that regardless of which side eventually controls the facility, a cooperation framework will be required:

“Whatever side the plant ends up on, there must be an agreement or an atmosphere of cooperation. No operator can run a nuclear plant safely if the opposite riverbank is controlled by another country willing to interfere,” he said.

A leaked 28-point U.S. plan for Ukraine suggested restarting the ZNPP under IAEA supervision, with electricity output shared equally between Ukraine and Russia.

Grossi declined to comment on the political aspect: “Whether the energy should be shared or not — that is political. Ukraine and Russia will decide that. What is clear is that the IAEA is indispensable.”

The plant, Europe’s largest, was seized by Russian forces in March 2022. All six reactors remain shut down but require constant cooling supplied by external power lines; diesel generators activate during outages.

The ZNPP lies on the southern bank of the Kakhovka reservoir, controlled by Russia, while Ukrainian forces hold the northern bank. Both sides regularly accuse each other of shelling and disrupting power supply to the plant.