The head of the Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Argentine Raphael Grossi, renewed this Thursday the warnings about the consequences that an attack on the nuclear power plant of Zaporizhia, controlled by Russia. Visited the place last week.
“Unless steps are taken to protect the plant, sooner or later our fate will be decided, with the possibility of severe health and environmental consequences. We are living on borrowed time,” Grossi warned.quoted by AFP.
It is not the first time that the IAEA has expressed its fears about the safety of the Zaporizhia plant, the largest in Europe and whose control was taken over by Russian forces in Ukraine.
Two mine explosions occurred outside the plant’s perimeter, the first on April 8, and another four days later, according to a statement from the agency.
It is not yet clear what caused the explosions, added Grossi, who met Russian officials in Kaliningrad last week and had previously met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Grossi warned Thursday that the plant remains dependent on a single power line, posing “a great risk to its safety.”
Russia supports IAEA efforts
Grossi has been urging for months to create a security zone around the facility, whose six reactors are shut down to minimize the risk of their exposure to the armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine. These countries periodically accuse each other of shooting at the plant.
the nuclear power plant Zaporizhia It is the largest in Europe, as it has six pressurized water reactors of the model VVER-1000 and has a total capacity of 6,000 megawatts.
For its part, the Russian nuclear company Rosatom stressed that its general director, Alexei Likhachev, had detailed to Grossi “the measures adopted by the Russian authorities to guarantee the safety of operations” at the plant.
Russia is “willing to continue working on the application” of Grossi’s proposals, added Rosatom, reported the AFP news agency
Source: Ambito
