Grossi inspects ZNPP, sees no offensive weapons: Rosenergoatom
3 Min Read
During a second visit Rafael Mariano Grossi paid to the ZNPP, the IAEA Director General affirms that there has never been and there are no plans to deploy any offensive weapons at the site.
-
IAEA Chief Raphael Mariano Grossi speaks to the media on Thursday, September 1, 2022 (AP)
During his visit to the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant (ZNPP), International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi saw that no offensive weapons are present at the site, Renat Karchaa, adviser to the head of Rosenergoatom, a subsidiary of Russia's state-owned nuclear energy company Rosatom, said on Wednesday.
Grossi reached the ZNPP earlier today, inspected the station with the plant's management and technical staff, and was shown the facilities that the Ukrainian shelling had damaged.
"Rafael Grossi has made sure that there has never been, and that there are no plans to deploy any offensive weapons at the ZNPP," Karchaa told the Rossiya 24 broadcaster.
The ZNPP should not be considered as a target during the present hostilities, Grossi said, commenting on Kiev's statement about capturing the plant by force.
Grossi also noted, during his visit, the need to agree on not attacking the power plant or using it for attacks in the other direction.
The IAEA Chief said a new concept is currently being developed to keep the ZNPP safe.
It is worth noting that this is Grossi’s second visit to the ZNPP after the first visit that took place on September 1, 2022.
In January, when asked during a press conference about the possibility of an accident at a nuclear power plant in Ukraine, Grossi stated it could happen at any minute - if it wasn't surrounded by a safety zone.
Experts in the UN nuclear watchdog reported explosions erupting in the vicinity of the ZNPP later in January.
The ZNPP remains a tense point of focus in this regard as Ukrainian forces seem to keep targeting it even after it the region joined Russia this past fall in a referendum.
It is the largest NPP in Europe with six power units and a capacity of 1 gigawatt each. It has been under Russian protection since March 2022, which was justified and validated by the Russian Foreign Ministry as a step to avoid nuclear and radioactive material leakage and spill.
Previous shelling by Ukrainian forces against the ZNPP has caused power outages and infrastructure damages.
Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu stated in light of Ukraine's constant targeting that it is the latter's way of painting a mirage of a nuclear disaster threat. Following that, the IAEA repeatedly stressed the need for a safety zone around the ZNPP.
