The chief of the UN nuclear watchdog has announced that an inspection team is en route to the troubled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power facility in Ukraine.
Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi stated that the team was anticipated to arrive at the facility later this week.
“We must ensure the safety and security of the largest nuclear site in Ukraine and Europe,” he tweeted.
Since March, the nuclear reactor has been held by invading Russian forces.
Fighting surrounding the plant in the southeast of Ukraine has increased global anxiety for the site’s safety and security.
Both Ukraine and Russia have been accused of shelling the region.
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine stated that Europe was “one step away” from a radioactive calamity on Thursday when the plant was momentarily unplugged from Ukraine’s electrical system and backup generators were activated to provide it with power.
He stated that fires had harmed the plant’s power lines, rendering them inoperable for the first time in its history.
Both Ukraine and Russia blamed the other for the damaging strikes.
The Russian military assumed control of the factory at the beginning of March, but Ukrainian personnel continue to run it under tough conditions.
The Kremlin had previously signaled that only international inspectors would be permitted to visit the complex, so the IAEA’s visit will be a significant occasion in terms of being able to verify what is happening on the ground.
Ukraine believed that an IAEA expedition to Zaporizhzhia would legitimize the Russian control of the nuclear power station in Zaporizhzhia but ultimately supported the trip.
“Nearly every day, a new event occurs at or in the vicinity of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power facility. We cannot afford to waste any additional time “The director general of the IAEA said.
Given that the plant is protected by strong walls, shelling is not a major threat, according to experts.
However, severing its connection to the power grid is dangerous. The loss of power to the nuclear reactors and their backup generators would prevent the pumps from cooling the heated reactor core, causing the fuel to begin to melt.
