Watchdog growingly worried over Ukrainian nuclear plant security

Russian forces fired more than 30 shells at Nikopol, a Ukrainian-held town neighboring the plant, on Sunday. Pic/AP

The head of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog expressed growing anxiety about the safety of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, after the governor of the Russia-occupied area ordered the evacuation of a town where most plant staff live amid ongoing attacks in the area.

The plant is near the front lines of fighting, and Ukrainian authorities on Sunday said that a 72-year-old woman was killed and three others were wounded when Russian forces fired more than 30 shells at Nikopol, a Ukrainian-held town neighboring the plant.

"The general situation in the area near the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant is becoming increasingly unpredictable and potentially dangerous," International Atomic Energy Agency head Rafael Grossi said in a warning that came on Saturday before the latest.

Grossi's comments were prompted by an announcement by Yevgeny Balitsky, the Russian-installed governor of the partially-occupied Zaporizhzhia province, that he had ordered the evacuation of civilians from 18 settlements in the area.

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