ENERGODAR, March 29. /TASS/. Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi said that all possible measures should be taken to protect the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant from any attacks.
"I think in general the situation is not improving, it is obvious that military activity is increasing in this whole region," he told reporters during his visit to the nuclear facility on Wednesday. "Every possible measures and precautions should be taken so that the plant is not attacked," he added.
On Wednesday, Grossi visited the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant and inspected the premises. He was shown the facilities that sustained damage during bombardments by Ukraine’s armed forces. For instance, the IAEA chief saw where a projectile exploded between vats with coolant at the fourth nuclear power-generating unit. This is Grossi’s second visit to the nuclear facility over the past six months. His first visit there was on September 1, 2022.
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. The power station has continued its regular operation. 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 most cases, the attacks are deflected by air defense systems but several times the projectiles hit infrastructure facilities and the premises of a nuclear waste storage depot. In order to protect the nuclear power plant from the bombardments, engineering structures were erected on its premises to serve as a so-called "safety cushion.".