There are no mines in the cooling basin of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, says the UN surveillance agency.
Zaporizhia nuclear power plant
247 Rafael Mariano Grossi, directorgeneral of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), on Tuesday dismissed claims by the Ukrainian government that the cooling pond at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant (UNZ) was rigged with explosives, Russia reported. Today.
“The IAEA is aware of reports of mines being placed near the cooling pool. “During the director general’s visit, no mines were observed on site, not even at the cooling pond,” Grossi said in a report on the situation at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant.
There are mines outside the perimeter and “in certain places inside” that the UNZ security team said were for defense purposes, the IAEA chief said.
“Our assessment of these specific placements indicated that while the presence of explosive devices would not meet safety standards, the facility’s key safety functions would not be significantly compromised,” Grossi added.
His report follows allegations by Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskyy and his adviser Mikhail Podoliak that Russia was preparing a “terrorist attack” on facilities it has controlled since March 2022.
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The Ukrainian secret service has received information that Russia is planning “a terrorist attack with a radiation leak,” Zelenskyy said in a tweet on Thursday morning, adding: “The world has been warned, so the world can and must act.”
Claiming that Russia was considering “a largescale terrorist attack on the nuclear power plant to stop the Ukrainian counteroffensive and create a depopulated, sanitary gray area,” Podoliak laid mines in the cooling pond and demanded that “the global world” announce the consequences “not tomorrow, but today”.
Zelenskyy’s allegations are “another lie,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Thursday, noting that Russia had fully cooperated with the IAEA. Moscow insisted Kiev was behind the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam earlier this month, which the IAEA described as a potential threat to UNZ’s cooling water supply.
According to Russia, Ukraine has also repeatedly attacked the UNZ, including an attempted commando attack in September 2022 when the IAEA mission was en route to the site. The latest attack happened on June 9, when Russian air defenses reported shooting down three drones en route to the power plant.
The Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant has six reactors and is located in Energodar, on the right bank of the Dnipro River. It is currently operated by Rosatom in standby mode. The surrounding region officially became part of Russia last September.