The head of the UN atomic energy agency warned Monday, in a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, that the dangerous situation at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant “does not improve” due to fighting in the area.
At the meeting, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency – IAEA, Rafael Mariano Grossi, quoted by the Associated Press, said that the situation at the plant remains tense due to the strong military presence around it and that a blackout recently hit the installation, something that has been happening since it came under the control of Russian forces last year.
The head of the atomic agency met Volodymyr Zelensky in the city of Zaporizhia, about 50 kilometers northeast of the eponymous nuclear power plant, and announced plans to visit the nuclear plant this week, for the second time since the invasion. from Russia 13 months.
The Vienna-based agency has had permanent employees at the nuclear plant since September.
The six reactors at the Zaporizhia plant in southeastern Ukraine are shut down and are receiving the electricity they need to prevent a reactor meltdown.
Earlier this month, power to the plant went out for half a day, forcing employees to turn on backup generators, and Rafael Mariano Grossi expressed concern about this development.
The IAEA announced in January the deployment of teams of experts to Ukraine’s four nuclear power plants to reduce the risk of accidents, including the now-closed Chernobyl plant, whose deadly 1986 nuclear accident had repercussions across much of Europe.
Rafael Mariano Grossi stressed that his seventh trip to Ukraine demonstrates his commitment and support for Ukraine, “for as long as necessary.”
The meeting was also attended by other IAEA officials, the head of the presidential cabinet, Andriy Yermak, and the head of nuclear operator Energoatom, Petro Kotin.
Source: TSF
