IAEA comments on drone downing over Khmelnytskyi NPP: Next time, we may not be so fortunate

The IAEA is assessing the extent of damage caused by the crash of two Russian drones shot down near the Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plant on October 25.

This is reported on the website of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

IAEA experts present at the nuclear power plant reported that two loud explosions occurred in the morning, the report said.

"This incident again underlines the extremely precarious nuclear safety situation in Ukraine, which will continue as long as this tragic war goes on. The fact that numerous windows at the site were destroyed shows just how close it was. Next time, we may not be so fortunate. Hitting a nuclear power plant must be avoided at all costs," said Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

According to him, the explosions did not affect the operation of the KhNPP or its connection to the national grid. However, the shock wave damaged the windows of several buildings at the site, including the passageway to the reactor building, auxiliary building, special equipment building, training center and other facilities.

The IAEA added that the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine also informed them about the events at the plant through the Unified System for Information Exchange in Incidents and Emergencies.