MOSCOW, February 7. /TASS/. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi visited the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) and gave a positive assessment of efforts being made to ensure the plant’s safety, the ZNPP press service reported.
"During his visit, Rafael Grossi pointed out that the main joint task is to ensure nuclear safety and the security of the ZNPP. And he positively assessed the joint efforts aimed at achieving this," the press service said in a statement.
The IAEA head’s current visit to the Zaporozhye NPP is his fourth since the start of the special military operation. The first visit took place on September 1, 2022. This time, Grossi was accompanied by the newest group of rotating inspectors, consisting of four IAEA nuclear safety experts, which is the 16th such team to serve at the ZNPP. It will relieve the previous team of inspectors.
ZNPP Director Yury Chernichiuk familiarized the IAEA delegation with the current state of the plant. Five of the six plant’s reactors are in cold shutdown mode, while the fourth power unit is in hot shutdown mode, producing steam and heat, including for the nearby town of Energodar, where most ZNPP employees live. The plant’s employees ensured the operation of the mobile boiler that provides the ZNPP’s needs.
The IAEA representatives also assessed the qualitative and quantitative composition of the plant’s staff. The plant’s director pointed out that there are enough qualified personnel at the plant to ensure its safe operation.
Zaporozhye NPP
Located in Energodar, the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant, with roughly 6GW of capacity, is the largest of its kind in Europe. Russia took control of the plant on February 28, 2022, in the first days of its special military operation in Ukraine. Since then, units of the Ukrainian army have periodically conducted shelling both of residential districts in nearby Energodar and the premises of the nuclear plant itself, by means of drones, heavy artillery and multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS).