The Director General of the IAEA will visit the Zaporizhzhia NPP next week

Rafael Grossi, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), intends to visit the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) next week.

Source: IAEA website

Details: This will be the second time Grossi has visited the nuclear power plant during the war and the first since establishing a permanent presence of IAEA experts on 1 September last year.

Quote from Grossi: "I decided to revisit the Zaporizhzhia NPP to see with my own eyes how the situation has developed since September and to talk to those who work at the facility in these unprecedented and challenging circumstances. I, as before, am determined to continue doing everything I can to help reduce the risk of a nuclear accident during the tragic war in Ukraine."

More details: Grossi noted that despite the organisation's presence at the Zaporizhzhia NPP for seven months, the situation at the facility remains unstable.

"The threats to nuclear safety are all too obvious, as is the need to act immediately to prevent an accident with potential radiological consequences for the health and environment of people in Ukraine and beyond. Therefore, I continue to work on a proposal to protect the plant," he said.

Grossi noted that his trip to Ukraine is also aimed at ensuring a regular rotation of IAEA experts at the Zaporizhzhia NPP "after challenging circumstances" faced by experts during the previous rotation in February, which was delayed for almost a month. A new group of IAEA experts will accompany him.

Background: On 23 March, Grossi said that the IAEA abandoned creating a demilitarised zone around the Zaporizhzhia NPP, negotiations that lasted eight months.

According to Grossi, it is now about the cessation of hostilities near the NPP.

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