VIENNA, October 4. /TASS/. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi described the ten-day external power outage at the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) as a serious nuclear safety risk.
"For nuclear safety, this is still a very serious situation. I’m calling on both sides to do what is necessary to prevent a further deterioration. It is a question of political will, not whether it is technically possible, which it is," the IAEA press service quoted him as saying.
Grossi added that at this point, diesel generators at the plant were "functioning without problems," and there is "plenty of fuel in reserve."
"However, this is an unprecedented situation that must be resolved without further delay. It is a nuclear safety issue and it is in everybody’s interest to fix it," he said.
Earlier, the IAEA chief said he was in talks with Russian and Ukrainian officials on "detailed proposals" to restore external power supply to the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP).
The plant’s external power supply was cut off on September 23 as a result of Ukrainian shelling, marking the tenth such incident since the start of the conflict. Earlier, Rosatom CEO Alexey Likhachev told an IAEA conference in Vienna that the only real threat to the ZNPP and its employees was the reckless actions of Kiev's armed formations.