Ukraine’s last nuke reactor shuts down

A rescuer of the State Emergency Service helps local residents during an evacuation from a flooded village of Afanasiivka, following damage sustained at the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant dam. Pic/AFP

Ukraine's nuclear energy agency says it has put the last operating reactor at Europe's largest nuclear power plant into a "cold shutdown" a safety precaution amid catastrophic flooding from the collapse of a nearby dam as Russia's war on Ukraine drags on through its 16th month. Russian forces continued pummelling the country with missiles and drones overnight, with Ukrainian officials reporting at least four deaths.

Five out of six reactors at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which is occupied by Russian forces, are already in a state of cold shutdown, in which control rods are inserted into the reactor core to stop the nuclear fission reaction and generation of heat and pressure.

Energoatom, the Ukrainian nuclear agency, said in a statement late Friday that there was "no direct threat" to the Zaporizhzhia plant due to the breach of the Kakhovka dam further down the Dnieper River, which has forced thousands of people to flee flooding.

The last reactor was put into cold shutdown on Thursday, Energoatom said, adding that other factors in the decision included shelling near the site which has damaged overhead lines connecting the plant to Ukraine's energy system.

On Saturday morning, Ukrainian authorities reported that at least four civilians have died across the country as Russian forces launched Iranian-made Shahed drones, missiles, and artillery and mortar strikes.

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