VIENNA, August 29. /TASS/. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi has called for avoiding a nuclear accident at the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant "at all costs," the agency said in a statement.

Grossi is expected to visit the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant next week.

"A nuclear accident must be avoided at all costs, and a nuclear power plant must never be attacked. The consequences could be disastrous, and no one stands to benefit from it," the statement quoted Grossi as saying.

The IAEA chief stressed that a recent fire at the facility’s cooling tower, drone attacks and the loss of power lines made it clear that the nuclear safety and security situation at the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant "remains extremely challenging."

The IAEA noted that Grossi would hold high-level talks in Ukraine next week and assess developments at the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP). This will be his fifth visit to the facility after the agency established a permanent presence there in September 2022.

On August 27, the IAEA chief arrived in the Russian town of Kurchatov to inspect the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant. During the visit, he saw traces of drone attacks and drone debris. Grossi said that attacks on nuclear power plants were acceptable and added that he planned to visit Kiev after the Kursk Region. Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova earlier said that the Kiev regime’s attempt to carry out a kamikaze drone attack on the Kursk nuke plant was an act of nuclear terrorism, which required an immediate reaction from the IAEA.