MOSCOW, May 24. /TASS/. Rosatom CEO Alexey Likhachev and IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi agreed on holding another full-scale meeting at their meeting in Beijing, the state corporation’s press service reported on Wednesday.
"Rosatom’s head Alexey Likhachev met with IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi. The meeting took place in Beijing where the Rosatom CEO is visiting as a member of the delegation of the Russian prime minister and the IAEA director general is visiting China on a working visit. <...> There is an agreement to hold another full-scale meeting," the press service said.
Likhachev and Grossi continued their usual conversation, according to the press service, with the main subject being interaction between Russia and the IAEA. The main emphasis was made on the issues related to the operations of the IAEA’s mission to the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant and in general ensuring the facility’s safety and security. The IAEA chief told Likhachev about the progress of his initiative on the matter.
Located in Energodar, the Zaporozhye nuclear facility, having 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, the units of the Ukrainian army have been periodically shelling both Energodar’s residential districts and the premises of the nuclear station, using drones, heavy artillery and multiple-launch rocket systems.
In early September, 2022, the IAEA’s mission led by Grossi visited the nuclear power plant. After it left the facility, several IAEA employees stayed behind as observers. Later, the agency published a report calling for the creation of a safety and security zone around the nuclear station to prevent emergency situations due to hostilities. In order to discuss this project, Grossi has been holding talks with representatives from the Russian and Ukrainian sides.