The United Nations nuclear watchdog, International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, has disclosed on Twitter that it will will inspect the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine this week.
The announcement comes after months of negotiations in which the International Atomic Energy Agency sought to gain access to the facility, which Ukrainian staff are operating under the orders of Russian forces, a situation that the IAEA has said threatens the safety of Europe’s largest nuclear plant.
The mission led by IAEA chief Rafael Grossi will assess any damage from recent shelling near the plant, which Russia and Ukraine have blamed on each other.
Neither he nor the agency specified when they would arrive at Zaporizhzhia.
Ukraine’s energy ministry said it would not comment on the IAEA mission trip “for security reasons”.
The IAEA tweeted separately that the mission would assess physical damage, evaluate the conditions in which staff are working at the plant and “determine functionality of safety & security systems”. It would also “perform urgent safeguards activities”, a reference to keeping track of nuclear material.
