IAEA chief to visit Kyiv and Zaporizhzhia NPP next week
Photo: IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi (Getty Images)
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi will visit Kyiv and the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant next week, according to the IAEA press service.
"IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi will next week travel to Ukraine to hold high-level talks and assess developments at the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), where nuclear safety and security remains precarious," the statement reads.
The agency noted that this will be the fifth time Grossi crosses the front line to access the NPP after he established a permanent IAEA presence at the site in September 2022 to monitor nuclear safety.
Overall, this will be Grossi's tenth visit to Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion.
"The IAEA acts promptly and decisively whenever and wherever there are threats to nuclear safety and security. Our pro-active presence is of paramount importance to help stabilize the situation. My message has been loud and clear throughout this tragic war: a nuclear accident must be avoided at all costs, and a nuclear power plant must never be attacked. The consequences could be disastrous," Grossi emphasized.
Visit of Grossi to Kursk NPP
On August 27, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi visited the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant. Following the visit, he stated that there is a "serious situation" with nuclear safety at the plant.
Prior to this, Russia informed the IAEA that alleged drone debris had been found on the premises of the Kursk NPP.
Russia claimed that the drone fragments were supposedly located about 100 meters from the spent nuclear fuel storage.
According to the American Institute for the Study of War, Russian officials attempted to use Grossi's visit to the Kursk NPP to falsely portray Ukraine as a threat of a radiological incident, which, according to the Russians, would undermine Western support for Kyiv.
