MELITOPOL, April 27. /TASS/. A scheduled rotation of experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) at the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) is set to take place later today, Renat Karchaa, an adviser to the head of Russia’s Rosenergoatom nuclear power engineering company, told TASS on Thursday.

"The rotation of the IAEA inspectors will take place today. Three of them [members of the IAEA’s onsite delegation - TASS] are departing and two will arrive - an Australian [national] and a Slovak [national]," he said.

According to Karchaa, both groups of IAEA monitors would be escorted by a representative of the UN Department of Security and Safety. He also said that three monitors have already set off in the direction of Vasilyevka, where the rotation was set to take place.

In early September 2022, the IAEA’s fact-finding mission, led by the agency’s director general, Rafael Grossi, visited the plant. After the mission’s departure, two staff members of the agency remained at the plant in the status of observers.

It was agreed at that time that several IAEA monitors would stay at the facility and would be replaced with a new group every month or so. All the rotations were carried out in due time, except for the one in February, which was disrupted a few times because of the UN Department of Safety and Security. As a result, the IAEA’s fifth mission had stayed at the plant for almost two months until they were replaced by a new group on March 2.

Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant situation

The Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant, located in the city of Energodar, has a capacity of about 6 GW and is Europe’s largest. It has been controlled by Russian troops since late February 2022. Since then, Ukrainian army units have periodically shelled both residential areas in Energodar and the premises of the NPP itself, using drones, heavy artillery and multiple launch rocket systems.

An IAEA mission led by Director General Rafael Grossi traveled to the ZNPP in September 2022 and left several agency employees onsite as observers. Afterward, the agency published a report calling for the establishment of a safety zone around the ZNPP to prevent accidents arising from hostilities. The expert team at the ZNPP underwent its first rotation in October.

Grossi said on March 9 that the ZNPP had had its power supply fully cut off for the first time since November, and that it had enough diesel fuel for electric generators to last 15 days. He said eight out of 20 available generators were working to provide electricity to the plant, while others remain on standby.