Drone strike hits lab at Europe's biggest nuclear power plant

A drone has hit a laboratory at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has been told.

There has been continual concern over the safety of the power plant, which is the biggest in Europe, since the start of the war with Russia in 2022.

After heavy fighting it passed into the hands of the Russians in March 2022, and there have been plenty of missile strikes near the nuclear power plant - with both sides of the conflict blaming each other. 

The IAEA says it has now been informed that the External Radiation Control Laboratory of the power plant was targeted by a drone.

No injuries have been reported but the extent of the damage to the site is under investigation, with the director general of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi, saying any attack poses a "nuclear safety risk".

The IAEA said: "IAEA has been informed by the ZNPP that a drone targeted its External Radiation Control Laboratory (ECRL) today.

"There were no reported injuries and it is not yet known if the strike damaged the lab, which is located outside the ZNPP perimeter. IAEA team at the site has requested access to the lab, Director General @rafaelmgrossi says, reiterating that any attacks near nuclear sites can pose nuclear safety risks."

Russia's State Atomic Energy Corporation said a driver was killed by a drone strike in an operation carried out by the Ukrainian Armed Forces last month. The Rosatom corporation said an employee at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant died during the incident on 27 April.

The Russian agency said the strike was a “great tragedy” and added that attacks on the nuclear plant “pose a threat not only to people but also to security as a whole”.

Following that incident, the IAEA said: "IAEA has been informed by the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant that a drone strike this morning killed a driver at its transport workshop in the vicinity of the plant site."

While a message from Rosatom, which has controlled the plant since it was captured by Russian forces, read: "A Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant employee has been killed in a strike by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

"Today, a driver was killed as a result of a strike by a Ukrainian Armed Forces drone on the premises of the transport workshop at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant."