UN wants more access to Ukraine nuclear plant amid sabotage warnings

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations’s nuclear watchdog, has called for increased access to the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in southern Ukraine

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations’s nuclear watchdog, has called for increased access to the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in southern Ukraine as Moscow and Kyiv accused each other of planning acts of sabotage at what is Europe’s largest nuclear power facility.

The IAEA said on Wednesday that it was seeking additional access to the Zaporizhzhia plant to “confirm the absence of mines or explosives at the site”.

“With military tension and activities increasing in the region where this major nuclear power plant is located, our experts must be able to verify the facts on the ground,” IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said in a statement on Wednesday.

Recent inspections at the site by IAEA staff had not found “any visible indications of mines or explosives”, but additional access “would help clarify the current situation at the site” at a time when “unconfirmed allegations and counter allegations” were circulating, Grossi said.

IAEA experts at ????????'s #Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant have inspected parts of the facility – including sections of the perimeter of the large cooling pond - so far without observing any visible signs of mines or explosives, but additional access is neededhttps://t.co/UlWeMsaFdU pic.twitter.com/Fpq124tDap

— IAEA - International Atomic Energy Agency ⚛️ (@iaeaorg) July 5, 2023