Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant: What would happen if there was an accident?

More than a year after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant remains a central target.

Missile strikes overnight from March 8 into March 9, 2023, caused outages and left the plant running on emergency diesel generators. That power supply is vital for cooling reactor fuel at the plant and preventing what Reuters news agency called a potentially catastrophic meltdown.

Rafael Grossi, who heads the International Atomic Energy Agency, appealed for a protection zone around the nuclear power plant seized by Russia early in the war.