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Russia hopes IAEA chief’s visit to ZNPP to make reports more unbiased — envoy

However, Moscow has no special expectations from this visit

MOSCOW, March 27. /TASS/. Russia hopes that a visit by Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi to the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) will enable the UN nuclear watchdog to provide a more impartial picture of the situation at the nuke plant, Russian Permanent Representative at International Organizations in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov said on Monday.

"We hope that this will enable the agency to provide a more impartial picture of the situation at the station in its nuclear safety reports. So far, the situation in this regard does not look like it would be desirable. The agency sometimes paints the picture in dark colors," the Russian envoy said, commenting on Grossi’s upcoming visit to the Zaporozhye nuke plant.

However, Moscow has no special expectations from this visit, Ulyanov said.

"Grossi pays enhanced attention to the Zaporozhye NPP owing to the fact that this is Europe’s largest nuclear power plant and is located close to the area of combat operations. Besides, he knows perfectly well that this nuke plant was massively bombarded by the Ukrainian side quite recently," the envoy said.

Immediately after his first visit to the ZNPP on September 1 last year, Grossi came up with an initiative to ensure the station’s nuclear safety and physical nuclear security in order to prevent a potential nuclear disaster, the Russian diplomat recalled.

"As far as we know, the director general will meet with the Ukrainian authorities before his visit to the ZNPP and will, apparently, again try to convince them to support this initiative. Kiev will only be required to confirm that it will not bombard the civilian nuclear facility," the envoy said.

"Grossi and his entourage will spend several hours at the station and personally get acquainted with the situation on the site," the Russian envoy said.

Renat Karchaa, adviser to the chief executive of Russia’s Rosenergoatom nuclear power plant operator, earlier told TASS that Grossi would pay a visit to the Zaporozhye nuke plant on March 29 and IAEA inspectors at the station would be rotated. The pending visit to the Zaporozhye nuke plant is the second for Grossi. After his first visit to the nuke plant, the UN nuclear watchdog established the permanent presence of its inspectors at the station.