IAEA mission determined to reach Zaporozhye NPP: Spokesperson

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A spokesperson for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) stressed Thursday that the agency's mission is determined to reach the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant (NPP) despite delays.

The spokesperson told Reuters that the IAEA mission to the Zaporozhye NPP - Europe's largest atomic facility - is waiting at a Ukrainian checkpoint after fresh shelling around the plant on Thursday, but remains determined to reach the plant today.

Ukraine's state nuclear company, Energoatom, confirmed that the IAEA convoy is at a Ukrainian checkpoint around 20 km (12.4 miles) from the frontline and is waiting for the situation near the plant to become safer.

Energoatom said one of the six reactors at the Zaporozhye NPP was shut down Thursday as an emergency protection measure after shelling in the area.

According to the IAEA spokesperson, the agency's chief Rafael Grossi personally negotiated with Ukrainian military authorities in order for the mission to be able to inspect the NPP.

The plant's proximity to the fighting has stoked global fears of a nuclear disaster.

IAEA team sets off for Zaporozhye NPP: Chief

Grossi had said an inspection team from the IAEA is heading on Wednesday to the Zaporozhye NPP in southern Ukraine.

"We are now finally moving after six months of... efforts. The IAEA is moving into the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant," the IAEA chief told reporters in Kiev before setting off.

Reuters reported citing its witness at the scene that an IAEA car convoy set off from the Ukrainian capital Kiev toward the NPP.

It is noteworthy that Igor Vishnevetsky, the Deputy Director of the Department for Non-Proliferation and Arms Control at the Russian Foreign Ministry, warned on August 23 that a trip by an IAEA delegation to the Zaporozhye NPP through Kiev and then across the contact line will be very dangerous.

Ukrainian sabotage group plot attack at ZNPP during IAEA visit

On Wednesday, Vladimir Rogov, a member of the main council of the regional administration, told Sputnik that a Ukrainian sabotage group was plotting a terrorist attack at the Zaporozhye NPP during the visit of the IAEA expert mission to show that Russia is unable to provide security.

"According to preliminary data, the terrorist attack was being prepared during the visit of the IAEA delegation to show the situation is not under control and that Russia could not provide security," Rogov said.

The official confirmed that the sabotage group has been detained in Enerhodar.

"A group of Ukrainian saboteurs who were preparing a terrorist attack at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was detained," Rogov told Sputnik.

It is noteworthy that Russia had accused the office of the United Nations Secretary-General of obstructing the work of IAEA experts and preventing them from visiting the Zaporozhye NPP in eastern Ukraine.

Russian forces have had complete control over the nuclear plant since March, but drone attacks by Ukrainian forces have regularly targeted the facility, leading Russia to request help from the IAEA to address security issues.

The head of the Russian National Defense Control Center, Colonel General Mikhail Mizintsev, pointed out that the Russian Defense Ministry is considering the shelling of the Zaporozhye NPP by Ukrainian forces an act of nuclear terrorism under a UN convention adopted by a resolution of the UN General Assembly. 

The official said if an accident were to happen, which the shelling could potentially cause, the effects would surpass the scale of Chernobyl and Fukushima - the entire territories of Ukraine, Donetsk, Lugansk, Russia, Belarus, Moldova, Bulgaria, and Romania would be contaminated by nuclear waste.

Russia has rejected previous claims made by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that it uses the NPP as a military base.

Read more: US official admits Ukraine likely to have fired at Zaporozhye NPP