IAEA says establishing a nuclear safety zone around the Zaporizhzhia power plant is an 'urgent imperative' as Ukraine struggles to cool its reactor amid continued shelling

• The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant lost power on Saturday, the IAEA director general announced.
• The plant switched to backup diesel generators as a result of shelling from fighting in the area.

The International Atomic Energy Agency director general on Saturday warned that creating a safety zone around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is "an absolute and urgent imperative" after fighting between Ukraine and Russia resulted in the plant losing its last remaining external power line.

Artillery shelling damaged the line after midnight on Saturday and resulted in the plant switching to emergency diesel generators with a limited fuel supply, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said in a press release.

The generators have enough power for 10 days, and the IAEAN said "efforts are underway to increase the available fuel stocks for the diesel generators," Grossi said.

"The resumption of shelling, hitting the plant's sole source of external power, is tremendously irresponsible," Grossi said in the statement. "The Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant must be protected."

Fighting in Zaporizhzhia has escalated over the past few days after Russia declared the province, as well as three other Ukrainian provinces, a part of Russia on Sept. 30. Kyiv has also claimed Russian forces kidnapped the director general of the ZNPP during recent fighting in the region.

A continuous source of power is necessary to cool reactors and prevent a nuclear meltdown. The risk of nuclear disaster has previously left Ukrainian forces reluctant to fight in Zaporizhzhia.

Grossi announced he would travel to Ukraine and Russia to speak with both President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Russian Federation about establishing a nuclear safety and security protection zone to prevent a "nuclear accident."

Shelling around the ZNPP, Europe's largest nuclear power plant, previously caused damage to the exterior of buildings, triggered power disconnections, and caused a partial power shutdown.

In August, Zelenskyy claimed that Russian shelling near the ZNPP almost caused a "radiation disaster" after the facility lost power and had to switch to backup generators.