<mediadc-video-embed data-state="{"cms.site.owner":{"_ref":"00000161-3486-d333-a9e9-76c6fbf30000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b93390000"},"cms.content.publishDate":1654527402806,"cms.content.publishUser":{"_ref":"0000017e-cb38-dcae-a3fe-ff7ddb630000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"cms.content.updateDate":1654527402806,"cms.content.updateUser":{"_ref":"0000017e-cb38-dcae-a3fe-ff7ddb630000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"rawHtml":"
var _bp = _bp||[]; _bp.push({ "div": "Brid_54273075", "obj": {"id":"27789","width":"16","height":"9","video":"1025253"} }); ","_id":"00000181-3984-dedf-ad93-bde79de10000","_type":"2f5a8339-a89a-3738-9cd2-3ddf0c8da574"}”>Video EmbedThe head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency warned Monday that there is a “clear and present risk to safety, security and safeguards” at Ukraine’s largest nuclear power plant, Zaporizhzhia, which fell under Russian control earlier this year.
Speaking at a board of governors meeting, International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Mariano Grossi said he has “grave concern” about working conditions at Zaporizhzhia, which was seized by Russian troops in March, and reiterated that he is working to deploy an international team of experts to visit the site.
BIDEN ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCES $6B INITIATIVE TO REVIVE AGING NUCLEAR FLEET
“The urgent need for us to be there is clear to all,” Grossi said Monday, adding: “I have repeatedly expressed my grave concern at the extremely stressful and challenging working conditions under which Ukrainian management and staff are operating the plant.”
He said he is “working actively to agree, organize, and head an IAEA-led international mission” to the plant in order to “carry out essential nuclear safety, security, and safeguards work” at the site.
News of the effort comes as Ukrainian regulators have indicated rising concerns about the supply of spare parts to Zaporizhzhia. Grossi said the plant has also failed to submit data on its nuclear material to IAEA for review, which undermines key nuclear safeguards, or “pillars,” established under the IAEA.
“The Ukrainian regulator has informed us that they have ‘lost control over’ the facility’s nuclear material that is subject to the Safeguards Agreement between Ukraine and the IAEA,” Grossi told the board, adding that there are also “indications from Ukraine regarding their concern about interruptions in the supply chain of spare parts to Zaporizhzhia NPP.”
In total, Grossi said, “five of the seven indispensable pillars of nuclear safety and security have been compromised” at Zaporizhzhia.
“The situation at Zaporizhzhia NPP has not only raised serious and pressing humanitarian concerns but is also a clear and present risk to the safety, security, and safeguards at the nuclear power plant,” he said.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“We are developing the modalities to dispatch such a mission; other considerations should not prevent this essential international mission from taking place,” he added.
