Energoatom head: IAEA inspectors to arrive at all three NPPs controlled by Ukraine, at Zaporizhia NPP after its liberation
Inspectors from the International Nuclear Energy Agency (IAEA) will arrive at all three operating nuclear power plants controlled by Ukraine, and at the Zaporizhia NPP, captured by Russian troops, only after it is liberated, Energoatom Head Petro Kotin has said.
"We agreed with the IAEA that everywhere – at the Rivne, Khmelnytsky and Yuzhnoukrainsk nuclear power plants – their inspectors will be present and will monitor the state of security and the possible threat if the Russian invaders try to approach them with the aim of capturing," he said on Apostrophe TV on Friday.
Regarding Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, which has been captured by the Russian Federation since March 4, according to the head of Energoatom, the arrival of IAEA inspectors will be possible only after its de-occupation, which, as he predicts, may occur as early as next week.
"As for Zaporizhia NPP, I think that they have not long left to sit there and next week they will also leave it. After that, we will be able to ensure physical security, including for IAEA inspectors, and take full control over these facilities," Kotin said.
According to the Interfax news agency, Alexei Likhachev, the head of the state corporation Rosatom, in an interview with Russian media after negotiations with the head of the agency, Rafael Grossi, said that the IAEA was asking them to organize a visit to Zaporizhia nuclear power plant.
Grossi himself, at a press conference in Vienna following his visits to Ukraine and Russia on March 29-31, called the presence of IAEA specialists at Ukrainian nuclear facilities very important and said that they would arrive there in the very near future, primarily at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant.
At the same time, he called the return of control over the Chornobyl nuclear power plant to Ukraine "a step in the right direction." At the same time, Grossi said that he did not know the reasons for the withdrawal of Russian troops from the Chornobyl nuclear power plant on March 31, since this was not a subject of discussion with the Russian side.
