Status: 09/01/2022 17:53
The team of inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has arrived at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine. The experts had been held up for several hours because of the fighting.
The IAEA mission with nuclear experts arrived at the Zaporizhia nuclear plant in Ukraine with a delay of several hours. The team had been held up due to safety concerns. According to Ukrainian information, Russian troops fired grenade launchers and rockets at the route from Zaporizhia to the nuclear power plant near the city of Enerhodar.
IAEA experts begin inspection of Ukraine’s Zaporizhia nuclear power plant despite ongoing fighting
Jens Eberl, WDR, daily news 5:00 p.m., September 1, 2022
IAEA chief Rafael Grossi announced when leaving Zaporizhia that the mission could not be stopped. She will inspect the power plant and speak to employees.
We are aware of the situation. There is increased military activity. I’ve been briefed on this and the risks by the Ukrainian army commander, but we’ve weighed the pros and cons and we’ve come this far. We don’t stop.
The Russian Defense Ministry has denied Ukraine’s allegations. It accused the Ukrainian army of shelling the meeting place of the IAEA mission near the nuclear power plant with artillery. Ukrainian troops also tried to attack the nuclear power plant. But they were arrested.
“Have started first review”
Upon arrival, the 14-strong international team headed by IAEA boss Grossi began work. “We looked at a lot today and started the first assessment,” Grossi told journalists, according to the Russian news agency Interfax. “For me, the work begins now.”
The experts also want to continue working in the nuclear power plant. The representative of the Russian occupiers, Vladimir Rogov, said on Russian state television that the inspectors should stay at least until Saturday. According to Interfax, some experts left the site after about four hours in the afternoon, as did Grossi himself.
IAEA wants to check the condition of the nuclear power plant
The IAEA team arrived in the city of Zaporizhia on Wednesday, about 70 kilometers from the power plant of the same name. It wants to investigate to what extent the nuclear power plant is endangered by the fighting between Ukrainian and Russian troops in the area.
In addition, the nuclear experts are to check the condition of the plant with its six reactors, the conditions under which the Ukrainian operating team is working and whether all the nuclear material is still available.
Another reactor shut down
The Ukrainian nuclear authority announced in the morning that one of the two reactors still in operation had been shut down because of Russian fire. The safety shutdown has been activated, it said in a message in the messenger app Telegram. However, the remaining reactor is running and supplies the power plant with electricity.
Both sides repeatedly accuse each other of being responsible for the shelling. The city of Zaporizhia is controlled by Ukraine, and the nuclear power plant by Russian troops since March. However, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant is operated by Ukrainian technicians.