"The consequences could be catastrophic": Rafael Grossi to visit ZNPP in early September

Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), is going to visit the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Enerhodar, which was seized by Russian troops. He also plans to come to Kyiv.

This was reported by the IAEA press service. Grossi's visits are scheduled for next week, starting on September 2.

"IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi will visit Ukraine next week to hold high-level talks and assess developments at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), where nuclear safety remains unstable," the statement said.

The agency reminded that this will be the fifth time that Grossi "crosses the front line to gain access to ZNPP".

"The IAEA acts quickly and decisively whenever and wherever threats to nuclear safety arise. Our proactive presence is critical to stabilizing 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 catastrophic, and no one would benefit. I am still determined to do everything in my power to protect nuclear safety while the fighting continues," he said.

On August 27, Rafael Grossi visited the Kursk nuclear power plant in Russia. After the visit, he said that the KNPP was allegedly "at risk of a nuclear accident."

"The danger or possibility of a nuclear accident has arisen near the plant," Grossi said, referring to the ongoing military operations in the Kursk region.

The American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) is confident that Russia tried to use the IAEA Director General's visit to the Kursk NPP to accuse Ukraine of allegedly making threats of a radiation incident real. Moscow hoped that this would undermine Western support for Kyiv.

On August 11, a fire broke out on the territory of the Russian-occupied ZNPP. The enemy set fire to a large number of car tires in the cooling tower, a structure designed to cool water.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy showed footage of the fire set by the Russian occupiers and called on the world and the IAEA to respond to the terrorist state's provocation.

The IAEA said that its experts had heard the sounds of explosions and seen heavy dark smoke in the northern part of the plant. The mayor of Enerhodar, Dmytro Orlov, said that the fire was a Russian provocation, and the distance to the operating power units and nuclear facilities is about a kilometer, so there is no danger in terms of radiation.

Energoatom reported that a fire broke out at a technical water supply facility on the territory of the ZNPP. This event resulted in the fire of cooling tower number one and damage to other process equipment.

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