International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi sees a risk of an accident at the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant under the current conditions, according to his interview with Le Monde on Friday.
"The station is operating, but with difficulties, so under the current conditions, the scenario of an accident cannot be ruled out," Grossi said. "Power outages, problems with spent fuel worry me," he added, TASS reports.
He said "any incident could have a negative impact on the situation."
When asked about risks of an accident at the Zaporozhye plant, Grossi responded, "You don’t have to be alarmists, but at the same time you cannot perceive the current situation as normal."
He also reiterated that he would like IAEA specialists to stay at the station on a permanent basis after they complete their upcoming mission. "I would like the agency's experts to be able to stay there on a permanent basis after this mission. I am working on an appropriate agreement," he said. "The purpose of the mission is to prevent a nuclear accident," the agency chief specified.
Earlier, in an interview with Radio France Internationale, Grossi said that the IAEA mission to the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant could lead to a permanent presence of agency experts at the plant. Following Thursday's talks with French President Emmanuel Macron, Grossi said the mission planned to set out on the trip in the near future.
The Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, located in the city of Energodar, is controlled by Russian troops. The Russian Ministry of Defense said Ukrainian forces had inflicted several strikes on the territory of the station recently, using, in particular, drones, heavy artillery and multiple launch rocket systems. In most cases, the attacks are repelled by air defense systems, but some shells hit the infrastructure and the area of the nuclear waste repository, which raises the risk of radiation leaks.
