The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, expects to discuss the dangerous situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is occupied by Russian troops, with Russian President Vladimir Putin face-to-face this week, DPA reports. the agency reported on Monday, citing Agerpres.

Vladimir Putin in a video conference, in which Rafael Grossi also participatedPhoto: Mykhailo Metzel / Associated Press / Profimedia Images

This facility is now powered by a single high-voltage line to cool the nuclear material, Raffaele Grossi told a news conference in Vienna. Therefore, “the situation is very, very dangerous”, while “the physical integrity of the plant continues to be under threat”, warned the head of the IAEA, who is due to fly to Russia on Tuesday for a new meeting with the Kremlin. head.

Raffaele Grossi also met with Vladimir Putin in October 2022 to agree on the creation of a security zone around the plant. But the IAEA plan agreed upon at the time was never implemented, partly due to Ukraine’s opposition.

Instead of this plan, the UN agency submitted to the Security Council of this organization a list of principles for preventing a nuclear accident at the Zaporizhzhia NPP. These principles relate to the physical integrity of the installation, namely that the plant cannot be attacked or used as a base for attacks, its power supply and the working conditions of its personnel.

The IAEA informed about the problems at the Zaporizhzhia NPP

Since then, six of the seven nuclear safety principles on the list have been breached in whole or in part, Rafael Grossi said on Monday, citing the plant’s repeated power outages, understaffing and maintenance delays among the shortcomings. work and lack of spare parts.

Also, the IAEA team on site was not allowed to move freely inside the plant to check the possible location of weapons there.

Occupied by Russian troops in March 2022, this largest plant in Europe is located in the district of the Ukrainian city of Energodar, not far from the front line.

The plant works with Ukrainian personnel, and the IAEA has a permanent team of experts on site. The territory of the plant was shelled several times, the Russian and Ukrainian troops blamed each other for the shelling.

Thus, the power plant was repeatedly disconnected from external sources of power supply, sources that are very important for cooling the reactors, the situations were resolved in time by starting diesel generators.

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