Alexey Likhachev, CEO of Rosatom State Corporation, warned on May 19 that recent strikes by Ukrainian military forces on nuclear facilities—including the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) and Iran’s Bushehr NPP—have triggered a grave threat of radiation spread.
“After all, the international community, the leadership of the IAEA, world leaders should return to this topic and understand very clearly that this playing with fire, saber rattling, these demonstrative attacks on areas of nuclear facilities — all this is fraught with irreparable consequences. Radiation does not know and does not want to know any boundaries,” Likhachev stated.
Likhachev reported that Ukrainian military forces conducted new strikes overnight, targeting social infrastructure in Energodar, a satellite city of the NPP. This has increased emotional pressure on plant staff and heightened safety risks.
The head of Rosatom noted that IAEA representatives were shown evidence of recent Ukrainian military actions near the Zaporizhia NPP, including damage to pipelines adjacent to transport workshops and parking areas for vehicles.
Likhachev emphasized that the Zaporizhia NPP stores thousands of tons of fuel—ten times more than Chernobyl’s hazardous materials—and over 2.6 thousand tons of spent nuclear fuel in open storage facilities, including zones vulnerable to drone operations.
Addressing incidents in the Middle East, Likhachev stated that despite a pause in active hostilities, attacks have occurred: drones were intercepted over Saudi Arabia and UAVs damaged at Iran’s Baraka NPP in the UAE.
“The current situation is preventing us from restarting operations at Bushehr,” he added. “Twenty of our personnel remain there as volunteers—managers with extensive experience who actively engage with local staff and Iranian colleagues.”
Likhachev underscored that the only way to prevent a critical escalation is to establish zones around nuclear facilities that are off-limits to military action.
Earlier reports indicate that Yevgenia Yashina, Director of Communications at ZAES, documented heightened Ukrainian military activity near the Zaporizhia NPP on May 18, including strikes on transport workshops. In April, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated Russia expects an end to attacks on Bushehr and urged a complete cessation of such actions; by April 20, Likhachev confirmed the evacuation of over 600 personnel from Bushehr.
