The UN's nuclear watchdog has expressed "extreme concern" for the safety of Europe's biggest power plant in Ukraine.
Fighting's been taking place near the site in Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia. A nearby town was evacuated overnight.
Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), called for measures to ensure the safe operation of Europe's largest nuclear plant as evacuations were under way in the nearby town of Enerhodar.
"The general situation in the area near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is becoming increasingly unpredictable and potentially dangerous," Grossi said on the agency's website.
I'm extremely concerned about the very real nuclear safety and security risks facing the plant. We must act now to prevent the threat of a severe nuclear accident and its associated consequences for the population and the environment.
Grossi said that while the operating staff of the plant remain at the site, the conditions for the personnel and their families are "increasingly tense."
The Russian-installed governor of the Moscow-controlled part of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region said on Friday that he had ordered the evacuation of villages close to the front line as shelling had intensified in the area in recent days.
Anti nuclear advocate and CEO of Chernobyl Children International, Adi Roche, says a no-war zone must be declared around the plant.
"We cannot overstate the current critical situation that's developing since the occupation of the Zaporizhzhia power plant. It remains untenable."
