VIENNA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th August, 2022) International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi says an expert mission has been sent to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP) and is expected to arrive there this week.
"The day has come, IAEAorg's Support and Assistance Mission to Zaporizhzhya (ISAMZ) is now on its way. We must protect the safety and security of Ukraine's and Europe's biggest nuclear facility. Proud to lead this mission which will be in ZNPP later this week," Grossi said on social media on Monday.
On Friday, Grossi said that the IAEA could establish a permanent presence at the ZNPP.
The head of the Zaporizhzhia military-civil administration Yevgeny Balitsky (Yevhen Balytskyi) told Sputnik that the regional authorities were ready to receive an expert IAEA mission and ensure security, but it was unclear whether Ukraine was ready to adhere to a ceasefire for the duration of the mission.
Balitsky also warned that if an accident were to happen at the ZNPP as a result of shelling carried out by the Ukrainian military, it would be comparable in consequences to the Chernobyl and Fukushima nuclear disasters and would become a catastrophe for Europe, since radiation could spread to the Crimean Canal and the Black Sea.
