UN atomic watchdog chief in Russia for talks over nuclear safety in Ukraine

The UN atomic watchdog agency’s director-general has arrived in Russia for talks on nuclear safety in Ukraine, where Europe’s largest nuclear power plant is at risk amid fighting, according to reports.

Russian state news agency RIA Novosti said International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Mariano Grossi arrived at the Black Sea resort of Sochi on Tuesday evening after announcing the trip the day before, the first day of a regular meeting of the agency’s 35-nation board of governors in Vienna.

The kremlin said yesterday that Russian president Vladimir Putin will meet Mr Grossi during his visit.

Mr Grossi visited Ukraine in February, and crossed the front line to visit the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant as part of the IAEA’S efforts to prevent a nuclear disaster amid ongoing hostilities. He also held a meeting with Ukrainian pres id entvo lo dy myrze len sky. The IAEA chief last met Mr Putin in October 2022.

He told reporters in Vienna that he considered it important to maintain a dialogue with both sides, and added that the situation with the plant, which is europe’ s largest, “continues to be very fragile”. He also said that if the six-unit

Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is currently in cold shutdown, is to be restarted, he would need to discuss “what kind of safety evaluation” will be made.

Mr Grossi also said that he needs to speak about the issue of the external power supply lines, since what the IAEA currently sees is “fragile and thin”.

The IAEA has repeatedly expressed alarm about the Zaporizhzhia facility amid fears of a potential nuclear catastrophe.

The plant has repeatedly been caught in the crossfire since Russia sent troops into Ukraine on February 24 2022, and seized the facility shortly after.

The plant’s six reactors have been shut down for months, but it still needs power and qualified staff to operate crucial cooling systems and other safety features.

The plant suffered eight lossesofoff-sitepowersincetheseizure, forcing it to temporarily rely on emergency diesel generators, and it continues to face challenges related to staffing.