IAEA Chief Demands Access To Ukraine Nuclear Plant, Says Its Security Is At Stake

The International Atomic Energy Agency's director-general says the level of safety at Europe's largest nuclear plant, currently under Russian occupation in Ukraine, is like a “red light blinking” as his organisation tries in vain to get access for work including repairs.

Rafael Grossi, in an interview with The Associated Press, turned the focus to the nuclear plant at Zaporizhzhia — a day after the 36th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. That plant was also taken over by Russian forces.

Grossi said that the IAEA needs access to the Zaporizhzhia plant in southern Ukraine so its inspectors can, among other things, reestablish connections with the Vienna-based headquarters of the U.N. agency. And for that, both Russia and Ukraine need to help.

The plant requires repairs, “and all of this is not happening. So the situation as I have described it, and I would repeat it today, is not sustainable as it is," Grossi said. “So this is a pending issue. This is a red light blinking.”

He spoke in an interview Wednesday, a day after meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about the issue. 

“Understandably, my Ukrainian counterparts do not want the IAEA inspectors to go to one of their own facilities under the authority of a third power,” Grossi said. “I had a long conversation about this with President Zelenskyy last night, and it's something that will still require consultations. We are not there yet.”

The IAEA chief continues to press Russia's government for access to the Zaporizhzhia plant. 

“I don't see movement in that direction as we speak,” he said. But he is meeting with the Russian side “soon.”

“There are two units that are active, in active operation, as you know, others that are in repairs or in cool down. And there are some activities, technical activities and also inspection activities that need to be performed,” Grossi said.

With 15 reactors and one of the largest nuclear power capacities in the world, the war has essentially turned parts of Ukraine into a nuclear minefield. Again and again since the invasion, nuclear experts have watched in alarm as Russian forces have come uncomfortably close to multiple nuclear plants in Ukraine. 

A Chernobyl security worker told the AP that the Russians flew aircraft over the damaged reactor site and dug trenches in highly radioactive dirt. 

On Monday, Russian cruise missiles flew over the Khmelnitsky nuclear plant in western Ukraine.

“There cannot be any military action in or around a nuclear power plant,” Grossi said, adding that he has appealed to Russia about this.

“This is unprecedented to have a war unfolding amidst one of the world's largest nuclear infrastructures, which, of course, makes for a number of fragile or weak points that could be, of course, exploited wittingly or unwittingly,” he added. 

“So this requires a lot of activity on our side and cooperation. Cooperation from the Russian side. Understanding from the Ukrainian side so that we can avoid an accident.”

On Iran, Grossi said his agency is still trying to clarify answers from Tehran on outstanding questions involving traces of human-made enriched uranium at three sites in the country. The Islamic Republic and the IAEA have been trying to resolve a series of issues between them since the collapse of Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers, including regaining access to footage from surveillance cameras at atomic sites in the country.

He also acknowledged Iran's ability to enrich uranium since the deal's collapse had expanded as it uses more-advanced centrifuges. Tehran recently moved a centrifuge workshop to its underground Natanz nuclear facility after a suspected Israeli attack.

“They are transferring the centrifuge producing capacity to a place where they feel they are more protected,” Grossi said.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine, along with U.S. and European support for Ukraine in the conflict, have increased tensions between Russia and the West, but it's “imperative for us to look for common denominators in spite of these difficulties,” he said.

He added: “We cannot afford to stop. We have to continue. It's in the world's interest, it's in their own interest that the nuclear situation … is successful. I cannot imagine a geostrategic scenario where more nuclear weapons, proliferation, in the Middle East would help anybody or anything.”

Iran long has insisted its nuclear program is peaceful. However, U.S. intelligence agencies and the IAEA assess Tehran had an organized military nuclear program through 2003.