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The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Mariano Grossi, has provided an update on the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant after visiting the facility on Monday. Photo by Rafael Marino Grossi/
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March 30 (UPI) -- International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Mariano Grossi said Thursday he had altered his plans to protect the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Grossi said he had been working with Russia and Ukraine on a proposal to protect the power plant, the largest in Europe, but said the plan "had evolved" from his initial proposal to establish a protection zone around the plant to instead ensuring both sides were aware of the proper steps to ensure it is safe.
"It is very, very important that we agree on the fundamental principle that a nuclear power plant should not be attacked under any circumstances and it also shouldn't be used to attack others," he said. "A nuclear accident with radiological consequences will spare no one."
Grossi traveled to the power plant for the second time since September and said the visit "confirmed his assessment of the seriousness of the nuclear safety and security situation" at the Russian-occupied plant.
On Wednesday, he said that the situation was not improving and that it was "obvious that military activity is increasing" in the region.
"Every possible measure and precaution should be taken so that it is not attacked and can be protected," he said.
During his visit to Ukraine, Grossi met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and tweeted that he had "a rich exchange on the protection of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant."
He was accompanied by a team of IAEA experts who will remain at the facility for a few weeks, the seventh deployment since the beginning of the IAEA Support and Assistance Mission to Zaporizhzhia started seven months ago.
"We were able to rotate the teams. There is a new team there now which will continue its work. That was for me very, very important," Grossi said.
