International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Raphael Grossi will visit the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant in Ukraine next week to personally assess the seriousness of the nuclear safety situation at the site and to stress the urgency of protecting it during the ongoing military conflict in the country.
“This will be the second time Director General Grossi has crossed the front lines to reach Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, and the first since he established a permanent presence of IAEA experts at the site in southern Ukraine last September 1,” the IAEA press office said in a statement.
Grossi stressed that he was determined to do everything possible to help reduce the risk of a nuclear accident.
“Despite the fact that we have been at the site for seven months now, the situation at the Zaporizhzhia NPP is still unstable. The threats to nuclear safety and security are all too clear, as is the need to act now to prevent an accident with potential radiological consequences for the health and environment of people in Ukraine and beyond. So I am continuing to work on a proposal to protect the plant,” he said.
Grossi said his trip to Ukraine is also aimed at ensuring that regular rotations of IAEA experts to and from the site are maintained and improved after the very difficult circumstances faced by the experts during the previous rotation in February, which was delayed by almost a month. He will be accompanied by a new group of IAEA experts, which will be the seventh to be present at the site since the IAEA Support and Assistance Mission to Zaporozhye was established.
