MELITOPOL, August 3. /TASS/. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has completed another rotation of its mission to the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), the plant’s management announced in a statement on its Telegram channel on Thursday.
"Another rotation of the International Atomic Energy Agency mission observers took place today at the Zaporozhye NPP. The mission consists of four inspectors and their task is to monitor and assess safety conditions at the plant," the statement reads.
ZNPP director Yury Chernichuk stated that of great priority for the IAEA inspectors is to ensure safety at the plant in view of potential threats posed by Ukraine.
"We maintain permanent contact and strive to promptly react to all requests," the ZNPP press office quoted Chernichuk as saying. "The IAEA regularly visits the majority of the Zaporozhye NPP facilities and has full access to inspect all of the [station’s] core equipment."
"One of the most important tasks for us is to provide safety for the IAEA staff considering possible provocations on behalf of the Ukrainian military," the ZNPP director added.
The previous rotation of IAEA inspectors, which was the eighth such shift change, took place at the ZNPP facility on June 15.
The IAEA announced on July 29 that the ZNPP switched its 5th power unit to a cold shutdown mode three days after its power unit No. 4 was shifted to a hot shutdown mode. According to the agency, the fifth power unit was switched to a cold shutdown mode on the morning of July 28. Vapor produced by the fourth power unit of the plant was used for water treatment at the ZNPP. Other power units remained operational in a cold shutdown mode.
The permanent stationing of IAEA experts at the ZNPP was instituted following the first visit by IAEA Secretary-General Rafael Grossi to the facility in early September 2022. At that time, it was agreed that several IAEA specialists would remain at the station and would be replaced by a new group roughly every month.
Since then, nine rotations, including the one on August 3, have already taken place. Almost all of them happened on time, except for the rotation scheduled in February, which was canceled several times due to the fault of the UN Department of Safety and Security. As a result, the IAEA’s fifth mission had to remain at the power plant for almost two months until it was relieved by a fresh group of inspectors on March 2.
Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant
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 ZNPP itself, using drones, heavy artillery and multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS).