IAEA is 'very, very close' to going to Zaporzhye NPP: Grossi

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
25 Aug 2022 14:27

UN nuclear watchdog could visit the Zaporzhye NPP very soon, affirming that access to the facility will be achieved.

A Russian serviceman patrols the territory of the Zaporozhye NPP station in Energodar on May 1, 2022.

The UN nuclear watchdog is "very, very close" to being able to go to the Russian-held Zaporozhye nuclear power plant in Ukraine, Europe's largest, its chief Rafael Grossi told France 24 TV on Thursday.

Asked if talks on gaining access to the facility had succeeded, in which case he said his agency would go within days, Grossi said, "We are very, very close to that."

Safety systems activated

The safety systems at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine were activated on Thursday, according to the RIA Novosti news agency, following reports of power outages across large swaths of Russian-controlled territory.

Outages were reported in the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, and Russia's Defense Ministry said Ukraine shelled the plant, Europe's largest nuclear power facility. Reuters was not immediately able to verify the battlefield report.

Zaporozhye NPP and IAEA mission

Earlier today, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu discussed the situation around the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant (NPP) with French Armed Forces Minister Sebastien Lecornu during a phone conversation, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Thursday.

"On August 25, 2022, at the initiative of the French side, the first telephone conversation took place between the Russian defense minister ... and the French defense minister ... We discussed the situation around the Zaporozhye NPP," the Ministry said in a statement.

The NPP is currently under Moscow's control and has been the target of Ukrainian nationalists, witnessing a wave of drone attacks in July and the latest on August 7, with the Ukrainian military shelling the NPP targeting the spent nuclear fuel repository. The Kiev regime launched a 220mm Uragan rocket with a cluster munition.

Last week, in its latest act of dangerous provocations against the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, Ukrainian forces opened fire on the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant (NPP) using weaponry supplied by the West - however, critical facilities were not damaged in the attack, according to the civil-military administration of Energodar city.

"Kiev’s punitive forces have opened fire on the Zaporozhye NPP and the outskirts of Energodar," the region's administration wrote on its Telegram channel. "Artillery strikes on the area of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant have been recorded."