The security situation at the Russian-occupied Ukrainian nuclear power plant in Zaporizhia is tense: Europe’s largest nuclear power plant is currently equipped with only a single electricity line to cool the nuclear material. The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, wants to hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin this week about the “very, very precarious situation”.
The director general said on Monday at a press conference on the sidelines of a meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors in Vienna that he planned to leave for Russia on Tuesday to speak to the Kremlin chief.
Experts: “Physical integrity remains at risk”
Russian troops occupied the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in early March 2022. Since then, nine of the ten original lines that supplied the system at the front have failed as a result of the war. An IAEA team is constantly on site to monitor the situation at the largely decommissioned power plant. The experts reported this weekend about military activities near the nuclear power plant. “The physical integrity of the power plant remains at risk,” Grossi said.
A safety zone around the nuclear power plant has never been introduced
The IAEA head met Putin in October 2022 to negotiate the establishment of a safety zone around the nuclear power plant. Grossi’s plan was never implemented due to resistance from Ukraine. Instead, Grossi has now proclaimed principles to prevent a nuclear accident in Zaporizhia before the UN Security Council. Accordingly, the facility may not be shot at or used as a base for attacks.
In a recent report to the Board of Governors, Grossi complained that the IAEA on-site team was not allowed to move freely around the facility to check that no weapons systems were stationed there. He also pointed to the significantly reduced workforce, delayed maintenance and lack of spare parts in Zaporizhia under Russian management.
Source: Krone
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