2023-06-08 11:33:00
In his words, the collapse of the Kajovka dam may lead to the reduction of cooling sources and reactor damage from the Zaporozhye nuclear plant, but it’s too soon to panic.
“We will determine our position as IAEA, we will work out the response measures that we would recommend. I am sure that the plant has its own ideas on this. We would like to discuss them. In the short term, in the not too distant future, there may be consequences if the situation deteriorates or gets worse,” he said.
Grossi stressed that the IAEA will continue to carry out inspections of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant until the situation has stabilized.
“As the head of the IAEA, I shouldn’t just talk regarding it, but travel to the site to assess in person what’s going on, talk to the current management there, talk to the operators there, talk to everyone, do an assessment. (… .) Until the situation as a whole stabilizes, we will have to continue to do so, and that is why yesterday [7 de junio]following the news of the destruction of the dam on the Dnieper, I announced that I would return to assess what the situation is,” he added.
The IAEA director general emphasized that the idea is to complete during that visit the rotation of your experts in the plant.
Speaking to Sputnik, Grossi noted that he perceives “sufficient support from the international community, Russia and Ukraine included, to implement these features or make them operational.” The IAEA chief said he was “encouraged” by the reactions to his plan, but suggested caution.
“Of course, we have to handle this with great care, given the circumstances and in the case of an open conflict. (…) The important thing for me is that they have taken note,” he said.
Grossi described the rotation as a “very delicate operation”, in which the UN Department of Security and Safety is also involved. It will be necessary to coordinate the movements so that the mission can pass safely, he clarified.
The IAEA director general reported that next week he will likely meet with Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky. In addition, he will visit Zaporozhye, and will go to Moscow or any other region of Russia to continue the dialogue.
“For me, the main objective is to avoid a nuclear catastrophe. That requires a lot of effort. And I will continue working in this direction,” he stressed.
The plant has six pressurized water reactors model VVER-1000 and has a total capacity of 6,000 megawatts. The six generating units are turned off, to minimize the risk of their exposure to the ongoing armed conflict.
Since March 2022, the plant has been under the defense of the Russian military. The Russian Foreign Ministry alleges that the military presence at the plant, which had been operated by the Ukrainian company Energoatom before Russia announced the incorporation of the Zaporozhye province at the end of last September, is intended to prevent leaks of nuclear and radioactive materials.
Russia and Ukraine periodically accuse each other of firing at the plant’s facilities, which on multiple occasions ran out of external power sources.
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