UN nuclear watchdog chief to visit Moscow as fears for Ukraine’s nuclear plants spike

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The head of the U.N. atomic watchdog said Tuesday he will visit Moscow in the coming days to speak with officials about Russia’s persistent attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure which threaten nuclear safety.

International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi also said there were “a few occasions where we had close calls” with regard to Europe’s largest nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia which is under Russian occupation. Grossi did not condemn either side for attacks on the plant saying because it lay so close to the front line it was hard to determine responsibility.

More than half of Ukraine’s power is generated by three functioning nuclear plants and Russia has increasingly threatened their ability to function.

Meanwhile, the Zaporizhzhia plant, which is not under Ukraine’s control, in the southeast of the country, was occupied by Russia in the opening days of the full-scale invasion. It is one of the 10 biggest nuclear plants in the world.

Grossi visited an electrical substation in the Kyiv region of Ukraine Tuesday and said that damage to such key power grid facilities during the war poses a threat to nuclear safety by potentially disrupting vital cooling procedures at atomic plants.

Russia has repeatedly tried to cripple Ukraine’s power grid, denying the country heat, electricity and running water in an effort to break the Ukrainian spirit. The attacks have also sought to disrupt Ukraine’s defense manufacturing industry.

The war has brought fears of a nuclear catastrophe as Zaporizhzhia has repeatedly been caught in the crossfire of fighting, and while its six reactors have been shut down for months, it still needs power and qualified staff to operate crucial cooling systems and other safety features.

Russia has been attacking electricity substations which can also threaten nuclear safety.

When substations providing electricity to nuclear plants are damaged or cease to function, Grossi said, emergency diesel generators at nuclear plants become the “last line of defense” against disaster.

“And when you have a big nuclear power plant, you don’t want to be at the last line of defense,” Grossi told The Associated Press in an interview during his visit.

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