UN nuclear consults with Ukraine and Russia about Zaporizhzhia plant

• IAEA is continuing talks with Ukraine and Russia about allowing inspectors to visit the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in southern Ukraine.
• Attacks on the complex have increased as fighting flares in Ukraine’s south, raising fears of a nuclear disaster.
• The risk of an accident “exists” and could be “very, very large,” according to IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, is continuing its talks with Ukraine and Russia about visiting the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine, where intensified shelling has raised international concerns.

“It is in the midst of a warzone, it’s something that’s never been done before, to send a group of international inspectors,” IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi.

Grossi said there is “progress” in the difficult negotiations, and if the visit goes ahead, he will lead the team to Europe’s largest nuclear plant.

“To get this operation together, it’s like a jigsaw puzzle,” Grossi said describing the difficulty of the visit in terms of logistics.

Attacks on the complex have increased as fighting flares in Ukraine’s south, raising fears of a nuclear disaster, prompting the UN’s watchdog and world leaders to demand that a mission be allowed to visit the site and assess the damage.

The risk of a nuclear accident “exists” and could be “very, very large,” according to Grossi.

“We cannot say what magnitude it could have, but potentially it could be very, very big,” he said.

“The mere fact that there is active conflict, shelling taking place there…the danger that something may go astray or something unexpected may happen is of course unsustainable,” Grossi said.

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