IAEA says Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant inspection will last "several days"
DANA HORDIICHUK – WEDNESDAY, 31 AUGUST 2022, 20:58
Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), says that the inspection of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) will last "several days". He also considers a long-term IAEA presence at the power plant possible.
Source: Reuters, quoting Grossi’s comment to journalists
Quote from Grossi: "The mission will take a few days. If we are able to establish a permanent presence, or a continued presence, then it’s going to be prolonged. But this first segment is going to take a few days."
"We have a very important task to perform there – to assess the real situation there, to help stabilise the situation as much as we can."
Details: The IAEA mission set out from Kyiv to the ZNPP on 31 August in order to inspect the nuclear power plant. Russian occupying forces declared that the IAEA mission will have one day to complete the inspection.
Background:
So-called authorities from the occupied area of Zaporizhzhia Oblast announced that they would not grant any special passes for the participants of the IAEA mission to expedite their travel to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP). However, occupation authorities added that they expect the mission to arrive in Enerhodar on the morning of 1 September.
White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters that the Biden administration believes that a controlled shutdown of the ZNPP would be the "safest option".
Russian forces captured the ZNPP on 4 March. In early August, they began firing on the power plant, and from the territory of the power plant on the town of Nikopol, which is situated on the other shore of the Kakhovka reservoir. The shelling poses a threat of nuclear disaster.
On 25 August, the ZNPP was disconnected from Ukraine’s power grid for the first time in its history. Later on, the plant’s staff were able to restart two of its six power units.
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