The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Wednesday that it does not have access to the premises of several reactors at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant (southern Ukraine), which is under Russian control and has been hit by repeated power cuts.

IAEA experts “cannot continue to have access to all areas of the nuclear power plant” in southern Ukraine, the UN agency said in a statement quoted by AFP and Agerpres.

“For the past two weeks, they have been denied access to reactor halls 1, 2 and 6” at this largest nuclear power plant in Europe, which has been under Russian control since March 2022 after invading Ukraine.

“This is the first time” when “they are denied access to the premises of the reactor of the stopped unit”, where “the active zone of the reactor and spent fuel are located”, the IAEA said.

“In addition, access to some parts of the engine rooms continues to be restricted,” the agency added, still awaiting “access to the reactor roofs.”

The Zaporizhzhya nuclear power station was shelled eight times and disconnected from the power grid. This is a dangerous situation that has caused fears of a nuclear accident.

The two camps accuse each other of wanting to wreak havoc there. The IAEA has a team of experts who are permanently on site.

The agency also said the emergency power line would be able to “automatically supply power without manual and therefore late intervention, provided it remains operational,” given that major work has been done.

“This is an important development, as it allows to ensure the independence of the power supply system of the station, even if the general situation with the power supply outside the station remains extremely fragile,” the IAEA emphasizes.

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