VIENNA, Sept 3 (NNN-UNIAN) – International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General, Rafael Grossi, said yesterday that, two of the agency’s experts would remain permanently, at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine.
Grossi told reporters upon arriving in Vienna, after a visit to the facility, that, six of the 14-member IAEA mission remained at the Zaporizhzhia plant, after the team completed a visit there on Thursday.
Four of the six experts will leave the plant next week, while the other two will stay there as the agency’s continued presence, in the longer term.
Earlier this week, Grossi led the IAEA mission to the Zaporizhzhia plant, which suffered strikes in recent weeks and raised international concern about its safety.
The chief of the UN nuclear watchdog said, at yesterday’s press conference that, “We’ve seen what I requested to see, everything I requested to see” during the visit.
“We have seen military activity around the plant, and I was able to see – myself and my team – impact, holes, markings on buildings of shelling,” he said, expressing concern for the plant’s physical integrity, power supply and personnel conditions.
Grossi said, he expects to produce a report on the situation of the Zaporizhzhia plant early next week. He will also brief the UN Security Council on the issue next Tuesday.
The Zaporizhzhia plant, one of Europe’s largest nuclear power plants, has been controlled by Russian forces since early Mar, but its Ukrainian staff has continued to operate it. Ukraine and Russia have traded accusations of recent strikes on the facility.– NNN-UNIAN
