The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, visited Russia on Wednesday for talks aimed at securing the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, which has been targeted several times by gunfire.
Last week, the head of the IAEA visited the Zaporizhia power plant, controlled by Russian forces in southern Ukraine, calling for emergency measures to avoid a nuclear disaster. “I have met with senior officials from several Russian agencies… I am continuing my efforts to protect the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant,” Grossi said Wednesday during a trip to Kaliningrad, a Russian enclave on the Baltic Sea between Poland and Lithuania. “My recent visit to (Zaporijjia) confirmed the urgent need to achieve this essential goal, which is in everyone’s interest,” he added on Twitter.
For its part, the Russian nuclear giant Rosatom stressed that its director general, Alexei Likhachev, had given details to Mr. Grossi on “the measures taken by the Russian authorities to ensure the safety of operations” at the Zaporizhia plant. Russia is “ready to continue working on the implementation” of Grossi’s proposals, Rosatom added.
The Zaporijjia power plant, the largest in Europe, has been fired on several times in recent months, fuelling fears of a nuclear disaster. After months of fruitless exchanges, the idea of a demilitarized zone around the plant no longer seems to be on the table.
During his last visit to Zaporijjia, Mr. Grossi said he wanted to find “realistic” measures. In particular, he called for no storage of weapons and heavy military equipment on the site, while expressing alarm at the increase in military activity in this area located in the heart of the Russian offensive against Ukraine. Strikes have repeatedly caused power outages in Zaporijjia, raising fears of a shutdown of the plant’s cooling systems and a serious nuclear accident.
