IAEA chief to visit ZNPP next week, for fifth time in two years

The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, will arrive in Ukraine next week, including to visit the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant currently controlled by the Russian invasion forces.

The visit was announced by the IAEA press service, Ukrinform reports.

"IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi will next week travel to Ukraine to hold high-level talks and assess developments at the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), where nuclear safety and security remains precarious," the Agency said.

It will be the fifth time the IAEA chief has crossed the frontline to gain access to the ZNPP since he established a permanent IAEA presence there to monitor nuclear safety and security two years ago on September 1, 2022.

For Grossi, this will be his 10th visit to Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

“The IAEA acts promptly and decisively whenever and wherever there are threats to nuclear safety and security. Our pro-active presence is of paramount importance to help stabilize the situation.  My message has been loud and clear throughout this tragic war: a nuclear accident must be avoided at all costs, and a nuclear power plant must never be attacked. The consequences could be disastrous, and no one stands to benefit from it. I remain determined to do everything in my power to protect nuclear safety and security as long as the fighting continues,” Grossi said.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, at the beginning of this week, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, arrived in Russia’s Kursk region, where he began an inspection of the Kursk NPP.