Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told Radio France International radio this morning that the IAEA mission to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant could result in the agency having a permanent presence at the plant. “It is a difficult mission. Traveling through a combat zone is not an easy task for experts,” he said, reported TASS. “This is why there is a need to ensure security. It needs to be done in coordination between the two countries. We should also expect support from the UN,” he stated. “Technically, the mission’s parameters need to be determined and a decision needs to be made on what we can do and perhaps, the agency’s permanent presence at the site could be established,” the IAEA chief observed.
“We have been making preparations for the mission for months. The goal is to carry out an inspection involving experts on various security aspects,” Grossi said. He pointed out that “the nuclear power plant has repeatedly come under attack.” “There have also been issues with the power supply, which continue to this day,” the IAEA chief added. “We need to help stabilize the situation,” he stressed.
Grossi was referring to reports yesterday that the two remaining reactor units that had been still connected to the grid were taken offline yesterday after a shelling attack. According to an IAEA statement, Ukraine reported that the last remaining 750 kv line connecting the plant to the grid was cut by shelling yesterday, but the 330 kv line connecting the nearby thermal power plant to the nuclear plant remained intact, meaning that the safety systems were still operating.
“There was no information immediately available on the direct cause of the power cuts,” the IAEA statement claimed. “The six-reactor ZNPP normally has four external power lines, but three of them were lost earlier during the conflict. The IAEA remains in close contact with Ukraine and will provide updated information as soon as it becomes available.”
