In 2024, the reactor equipment did shut down for a short time, but no accident occurred then. Moreover, the malfunction became known precisely from the IAEA report.
The Turkish media Aydınlık published a «sensational» investigation, which was immediately picked up by Russian propagandists: it claims that Ukrainian Security Service employees allegedly covered up the accident that occurred at the South Ukrainian nuclear power plant from the world community, the IAEA and Ukrainians. The only «evidence» of this accident is the job description of a Security Services employee, which states that he «conducted an operation to conceal the accident at the power unit with damaged reactor equipment». Aydınlık does not explain how these documents came into their possession.
However, this news is fake. First, the document itself cited in the text looks unconvincing: there is no stamp or signature on it, so anyone could have printed this text. And secondly, the publication that first spread the narrative also raises doubts. Aydinlik media is closely linked to the Turkish Patriotic Party — a pro-Kremlin political movement. Senior Researcher at the Atlantic Council and the Center for Contemporary Turkey Studies at Carleton University, Candidate of Political Science Yevgeniya Gaber, commenting on Russian propaganda in the Turkish media, stated: «Many anti-Ukrainian or pro-Russian narratives are spread in Turkey on the basis of anti-Americanism and anti-Western sentiments. The most anti-Ukrainian segment is the Eurasian broadcasters — first of all, the Aydınlık newspaper of Doğu Perincek’s Vatan political party». In addition, the media has repeatedly spread other pro-Russian disinformation narratives: in particular, it wrote a completely baseless article about the «Ukrainian trace» in the terrorist attack in the Crocus shopping center.
Moreover, the story that the propagandists promote in these publications makes zero sense. They claim that the Secret Services allegedly concealed the accident at the South Ukrainian NPP from the IAEA, yet this incident became known precisely from the organization’s report. The IAEA reported that in July 2024, the operation of power unit 2 was temporarily shut down due to a problem with a transformer in the 330 kV open switchyard located outside the NPP site. The organization explained that «as a result of a short circuit, there was damage to the ceramic insulator, causing an oil leak that caught fire due to an electric arc». 17 hours after the shutdown, the reactor was restarted, and within a day it reached normal operating capacity. Thus, this is not an accident with a leak of harmful substances, as propagandists claim, but an ordinary breakdown, the consequences of which were quickly eliminated and reflected in the IAEA report. In addition, due to martial law, IAEA specialists constantly monitor the operation of nuclear power plants in Ukraine, and it would be objectively impossible to hide any serious incident.
Read another refutation about nuclear energy in Manipulation: US Imposed Sanctions Against the Zaporizhzhia NPP.
