IAEA says Russia once again restricts monitors’ access to ZNPP facilities

The Russian occupation administration at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant once again denied IAEA experts present at the facility access to the western part of the turbine hall at power unit 6.

That’s according to the agency’s latest report, seen by Ukrinform.

"The IAEA experts also monitored planned maintenance activities in the reactor hall and the nuclear auxiliary building of unit 6, including the refuelling machine crane and the heat exchangers. The team was also able to observe the maintenance of some electrical as well as instrumentation and control equipment. They did not report any issues related to nuclear safety or security related to the observed maintenance activities. When visiting the same unit’s turbine hall, the team was once again not granted access to its western part," reads the statement.

It is noted that, over the last week, IAEA experts, who are deployed at the ZNPP, have made several visits aimed at monitoring maintenance work at the site, as well as checking the availability of necessary spare parts for the plant.

Also, it is reported that during the last week, IAEA experts "continued to hear explosions and gunfire at various distances from the site."

As reported earlier, the ZNPP has been under Russian occupation since March 4, 2022. Throughout this time, the Russians repeatedly violated the principles of nuclear safety, having deployed military equipment on the NPP premises, as well as mining the territory and terrorizing staff. The invaders ignore the IAEA's decision to have the ZNPP returned to the control of Ukraine’s Energoatom.