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IAEA presence plays important role in stabilizing situation around Zaporozhye NPP — Grossi

According to the IAEA head, by the end of August 2023, 53 agency missions with a total of 116 observers had visited the ZNPP and other Ukrainian nuclear power plants

VIENNA, September 11. /TASS/. The presence of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) monitoring mission at the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) has played an important role in stabilizing the situation around the plant, the agency’s head Rafael Grossi said in his opening remarks at the opening of the September meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors.

"The IAEA's presence played an important role in stabilizing the situation and informing the international community about the work of the Zaporozhye NPP. I am particularly proud of the courageous staff who carried out this important task," he said.

"At the Zaporozhye NPP, staff now are monitoring compliance with the five principles, as I laid out at the United Nations Security Council, for protecting the plant from a serious accident," Grossi pointed out. According to him, by the end of August 2023, 53 agency missions with a total of 116 observers had visited the ZNPP and other Ukrainian nuclear power plants.

The ZNPP, located in Energodar, has six power units with a total capacity of 6 GW. It is Europe‘s largest nuclear power generating facility. At the end of February 2022, the facility was taken over by Russian forces. Since then, Ukrainian army units have periodically shelled both residential areas in Energodar and the plant itself using drones, heavy artillery and multiple rocket launchers.

In early September 2022, an IAEA mission led by Grossi visited the plant. Afterwards, several staff members of the agency remained at the plant as observers. Later, it published a report calling for the creation of a security zone around the NPP to prevent accidents caused by hostilities. In October 2022, the first rotation of the team of experts at the ZNPP took place.

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