SIMFEROPOL, April 28. /TASS/. The Ukrainian army’s drone attack on the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant’s (ZNPP) bus, which killed an employee, means a blow to nuclear security, Renat Karchaa, advisor to Crimea’s head and member of the Zaporozhye Region’s legislature, told TASS.

"This is, without exaggeration, a direct and deliberate blow against nuclear security. A driver was killed in the line of duty. And what if the drone attacked the bus while it was carrying the nuclear facility’s personnel? What does nuclear security mean? It is certainly about a clear and strict implementation of all regulations, standards, algorithms, requirements and protocols regarding the use of the systems and mechanisms crucial for the operation of a nuclear plant, designed to generate electricity. It is also about tracking and monitoring the storage and use of fissile (radioactive) materials. Experts that control and manage these processes are another pillar of nuclear security, and their psychological state is important. The people are what we value the most," he pointed out.

Karchaa noted that human errors often can create the risk of a nuclear incident, so the psychological condition of the plant’s personnel was crucial. "A stressed and depressed worker on the shift poses one of the most critical threats to nuclear security," he added.

The ZNPP reported earlier that a Ukrainian drone strike on the facility’s transport department had killed one of its employees, a driver. ZNPP Spokesperson Yevgenia Yashina told TASS that he was the first employee ever killed at the site.