This visit is aimed at assessing safety and security conditions in the largest nuclear plant in Europe plant that has been in the thick of recent fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces.
A team of United Nations inspectors arrived at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant on Thursday in order to assess its safety, braving heavy shelling that struck parts of the sprawling complex hours before they reached the largest plant in Europe and highlighted the threat of an accident, AP reports.
The agency and Ukraine’s nuclear energy operator Enerhoatom said the International Atomic Energy Agency team, led by director Rafael Grossi, arrived at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant that has been in the thick of recent fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces more than six months after the eruption of the crisis.
The company said earlier Thursday that Russian mortar shelling had led to the shutdown of one of its reactors by its emergency protection system and had damaged a backup power supply line used for in-house needs. One of the plant’s reactors that wasn’t operating was switched to diesel generators, Enerhoatom added.
Ukraine and Russia trade blame for heavy shelling that had temporarily delayed the team’s movements toward the sprawling plant on the left bank of Dnieper River in an area controlled by Russian forces. The fighting underscored the risks faced by the team of U.N. inspectors that was hoping to assess the safety of the plant.
“There has been increased military activity, including this morning until very recently,” Grossi said, adding that after being briefed by the Ukrainian military he decided to get moving despite the inherent risks. “But weighing the pros and cons and having come so far, we are not stopping.”
Grassi, who personally negotiated with Ukrainian authorities to allow the team’s passage, noted earlier that the risks were “very, very high” in the so-called gray zone between Ukrainian and Russian positions, but “we consider that we have the minimum conditions to move.”
Russia’s Defense Ministry said some Ukrainian shells landed 400 meters away from the plant’s Reactor No. 1. Ukrainian officials, meanwhile, accused Russian forces of shelling Enerhodar and a corridor that the IAEA team was set to go through, before it was finally able to clear checkpoints and reach the site.
Neither side’s version of events could immediately be independently verified.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow expects “impartiality” from the team.
“We are taking all the necessary measures to ensure that the plant is secure, that it functions safely and that the mission accomplishes all of its plans there,” he said.
The Zaporizhzhia plant has been occupied by Russian forces but run by Ukrainian engineers since the early days of the 6-month-old war. Ukraine alleges Russia is using the plant as a shield, storing weapons there and launching attacks from around it, while Moscow accuses Ukraine of recklessly firing on the area.
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