VIENNA, November 16. /TASS/. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has found no signs of undeclared nuclear activities during an inspection of three facilities in Ukraine, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said on Wednesday in his introductory statement to the Board of Governors.
"On the basis of these activities and information provided by Ukraine, the Agency did not find any indications of undeclared nuclear activities or materials aimed at the development of radiological dispersal devices at these locations (inspected by IAEA - TASS)," Grossi said.
He added that the agency had collected environmental samples from the sites and was checking them at the time. According to the IAEA chief, the safeguarded nuclear materials and facilities "are not being used for undeclared production or processing of nuclear material".
In late October, Chief of Russian Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Force Igor Kirillov, said at a briefing that the Russian Defense Ministry had put its forces and means on alert to act "in conditions of radioactive contamination," because it had information about Kiev's readiness to use a dirty bomb. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also spoke about such a threat, and Russia has raised the issue at the UN Security Council. The Russian side listed the facilities in Ukraine, where such work could be carried out.
In connection with the information published by Russia, Kiev sent a request to the IAEA asking to send experts to these facilities. The agency inspected three Ukrainian sites and found no signs of undeclared nuclear activities. The IAEA said that it was ready to carry out further inspections of Ukrainian facilities.