The IAEA’s mission in Zaporizhia: “to protect the security of Ukraine and of the largest power plant in Europe”
In the photo accompanying the message he posted on social networks, Rafael Mariano Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), poses with a team of ten people, wearing caps and vests with the logo of the UN body.
Mr. Grossi, who writes: “The day has come, the IAEA mission to Zaporizhia is now on its way. We must protect the security of Ukraine and the largest power plant in Europe”. He had been asking for several months for the possibility of going to the scene, warning of the “real risk of nuclear catastrophe”.
The Zaporizhia plant, where six of Ukraine’s 15 reactors are located, was captured by Russian troops in early March, shortly following the February 24 invasion began. It is near the front line, in the south. kyiv and Moscow accuse each other of carrying out shelling near the complex, near the town of Enerhodar, on the Dnieper River, and thus putting the site in danger. The Ukrainian operator Energoatom warned on Saturday of the risk of radioactive leaks and fire, following new strikes.
For the past few weeks, Zaporijia has crystallized the concerns of Westerners. The UN has called for an end to all military activity in the surrounding area. Initially, Ukraine feared that such a visit would legitimize the Russian occupation of the site in the eyes of the international community, before finally supporting the idea of an IAEA mission. In front of this “dangerous” situation, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, had urged the UN nuclear police on Friday to send a team as soon as possible.
Between Thursday and Friday, the plant’s six 1,000 megawatt reactors were “totally disconnected” from the national grid due to damage to power lines, according to kyiv, before being reconnected and restarted.
Vladimir Putin accepted the organization of a mission passing “by Ukraine”and not by Russia as it previously demanded, the French presidency said in mid-August, following a telephone interview by Emmanuel Macron with the Russian president.