The CEO of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Raphael Grossi has announced his intention to visit the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) in Russia and Kiev in Ukraine. This decision is caused by his serious concern about the safety of atomic objects against the background of continuing fighting.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Grossi expressed his concern about the Kursk NPP, where two of the three reactors do not have additional protective layers to contain radiation in the event of an accident. In his opinion, the absence of a protective dome, instead of which there is only a regular roof, makes the active area of the reactor vulnerable. Combined with artillery shelling through hostilities, it creates a significant risk.
"They do not have a protective dome around, only a regular roof, which means that the active area of the reactor is quite vulnerable. And when you add the fact that you have the advancing troops, objectively speaking, within the reach of artillery, of course, it causes great concern for me."
Grossi plans to visit the Kursk NPP in the coming days to assess the situation on the spot. After that, he will go to Kiev, where he intends to meet with President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky. The purpose of his visit is to discuss nuclear security in the context of military conflicts and possible ways to improve the protection of nuclear objects.
Earlier, the IAEA reported the attacks of unmanned aerial vehicles on the occupied Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant, which is controlled by Russian troops. Grossi noted that the agency's inspectors did not find convincing evidence as to who was behind these attacks. He stressed that regardless of the source, such actions are unacceptable.
"If we had indisputable, irrelevant evidence that pointing to the source, we would say it. Whoever stands behind it should stop: a nuclear power plant should never be a military target," Grossi added.
