Zaporizhzhya NPP ‘can no longer be protected,’ says IAEA head
Rafael Mariano Grossi (Photo:REUTERS/Mykola Synelnykov)
Ukraine’s Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) can no longer be protected, UK television news channel Sky News quoted International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General, Rafael Mariano Grossi, as saying on March 29.
“It is obvious that military activity is increasing in this whole region,” Grossi said after visiting the ZNPP.
“So the plant can’t be protected.”
This was Grossi’s second visit to the facility since the onset of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, during which he planned to observe how the situation at the ZNPP had changed, communicate with plant workers, and act as a guarantor for the rotation of IAEA permanent mission members.
Before Grossi’s visit, the IAEA abandoned the idea of a demilitarized zone around the ZNPP. According to the director general, the agency is looking for a “behavioral” rather than a “territorial” solution, which would involve a commitment not to attack the power plant or use it for attacks.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy previously said that international organizations are still unable to resolve the situation with the Zaporizhzhya NPP, so other mechanisms must be sought.
The largest nuclear power plant in Europe – the Zaporizhzhya NPP – was captured by the Russian invaders after fighting in the town of Enerhodar on March 4, 2022. The buildings of the ZNPP were damaged by Russian shelling in several places, and the plant’s employees were taken captive.
Russian troops have set up firing positions at the ZNPP and shell Ukrainian cities from the location, understanding that Ukrainian forces cannot return fire for fear of damaging the plant’s six nuclear reactors.
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