Ukraine: IAEA team en route to Zaporizhia nuclear power plant
The Zaporijjia nuclear power plant, near Energodar, August 22, 2022. REUTERS - ALEXANDER ERMOCHENKO
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
The director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced Monday morning that a mission is en route to the Ukrainian nuclear power plant in Zaporizhia, the target in recent weeks of strikes raising fears of the risk of a major accident. .
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“
The day has come, the IAEA mission to Zaporizhia is now on its way.
We must protect the security of Ukraine and the largest power plant in Europe
,” wrote Rafael Grossi on Twitter, adding that the mission would arrive there “
later this week
”.
In a photo accompanying his message, the head of the IAEA poses with a team of ten people, wearing caps and vests with the logo of the UN body.
The day has come, @IAEAorg's Support and Assistance Mission to #Zaporizhzhya (ISAMZ) is now on its way.
We must protect the safety and security of #Ukraine's and Europe's biggest nuclear facility.
Proud to lead this mission which will be in #ZNPP later this week.
pic.twitter.com/tyVY7l4SrM
— Rafael MarianoGrossi (@rafaelmgrossi) August 29, 2022
Rafael Grossi had been asking for several months to be able to go to the scene, warning of the “
real risk of nuclear disaster
”.
The Zaporizhia plant, where six of Ukraine's 15 reactors are located, was taken by Russian troops in early March, shortly after the invasion began on February 24, and is near the frontline in the south.
Mutual accusations
kyiv and Moscow accuse each other of carrying out bombings near the complex, near the town of Energodar, on the Dnieper River, and thus putting the site in danger.
The Ukrainian operator Energoatom warned on Saturday of the
risk of radioactive leaks
and fires after new strikes.
In recent weeks, Zaporijjia crystallizes the concerns of Westerners.
The UN has called for an end to all military activity in the surrounding area.
Initially, Ukraine feared that such a visit would legitimize the Russian occupation of the site in the eyes of the international community before finally supporting the idea of an IAEA mission.
Faced with this "
dangerous
" situation, President Volodymyr Zelensky had urged the UN nuclear police on Friday to send a team as soon as possible.
Between Thursday and Friday, the plant and
its six reactors of 1,000 megawatts each were "
totally disconnected
"
from the national grid due to damage to the power lines, according to Kiev, before being reconnected and restarted.
Vladimir Putin has accepted the organization of a mission passing "
through Ukraine
" and not through Russia, which he previously demanded, the French presidency had indicated in mid-August after a telephone interview.
(
with AFP
)
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Ukraine
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"We must try to stabilize the situation" in Zaporijjia, says Rafael Grossi, director of the IAEA