IAEA mission led by Grossi went to Zaporozhye NPP

MOSCOW, 29 Aug – PRIME. The IAEA mission, headed by the head of the agency Rafael Grossi, went to the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s permanent representative for international organizations in Vienna, said.

Earlier, Grossi said that the agency’s specialists are heading to the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant and will arrive at the site this week.

“The long-awaited mission of the IAEA, headed by Director General Mr. Rafael Mariano Grossi, is currently on its way to the Zaporozhye NPP (ZNPP),” the diplomat wrote in the Telegram messenger.

The head of the administration of the Zaporozhye region, Yevgeny Balitsky, told RIA Novosti earlier that the regional authorities would accept the IAEA mission and try to ensure their complete safety, but whether the Ukrainian side would observe a “silence regime” at the time of the stay of foreign guests is questionable. He noted that he doubted the intention of Kyiv to allow the agency to visit the station.

Ulyanov also said that the IAEA mission consists of about a dozen employees of the agency’s secretariat who deal with the issues of safeguards and nuclear safety. They are accompanied by a team of UN staff dealing with logistics and security issues.

In addition, Grossi, according to the diplomat, plans to leave several people at the station on a permanent basis.

Ulyanov also expressed hope that the mission’s visit to the Zaporizhzhya NPP would dispel numerous speculations about the unfavorable state of affairs at the facility. According to him, Russia welcomes the visit of the station by IAEA specialists.

It is noted that Moscow “made a significant contribution to the preparation of this mission.”