The risks of an emergency or an accident at Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Pland (ZNPP), which has been occupied by Russia since March 4, 2022, are growing, Head of the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine Oleh Korikov has said.

"The risks at the ZNPP are growing significantly, and the ability of the Inspectorate, the operating organization (Energoatom), and other Ukrainian institutions to respond to an accident is minimal," he said at a press conference in Kyiv on Friday.

According to the official, there are a lot of signs of increased emergency danger at the ZNPP, taking into account the actions of the invaders.

"The power plant has been turned into a military base. Basic safety principles are not being followed, in particular, the decisions of the regulator. There are illegal modifications, information is hidden. There are no qualified personnel, spare parts, proper maintenance, reliable connection to the power grid, a reliable source of water supply. The emergency preparedness and response system is also lost, the crisis center is not functioning, the radiation monitoring system is disabled online, and the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] team manually transfers it [data] to its system," Korikov said while speaking about the factors of violation of the safe operation of the ZNPP.

At the same time, he noted that Ukraine, as a member of the Convention on Early Notification of a Nuclear Accident, is obliged to immediately report an actual emergency.

"However, we are unable to fulfill the requirements of the convention. We informed the IAEA about this, but to date, data transfer has not been restored," Korikov said.

At the same time, he confirmed that power unit No. 4 is in a hot shutdown state, contrary to the requirements of the license, which provides for an exceptionally cold state of all units, and power unit No. 5, which remained in a hot shutdown state also contrary to the decision of the national nuclear regulator, is being cooled down.

Ukrainian licensed personnel have nothing to do with the unauthorized switch to the hot shutdown of the ZNPP power unit No. 4.

"They refused, and it was done by employees attracted by the fake operating organization Rosatom," he said.

At the same time, Korikov noted that the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate sent the IAEA and all relevant organizations in advance all the necessary documents on the non-compliance of the ZNPP operation mode with the license requirements.