Ukrainian presidential advisor questions the results of IAEA evaluation in Zaporiyia

Latest news on the war confronting Russia and Ukraine.

Advisor to the Ukrainian Presidency, Mikhail Podoliak, has questioned on Monday the assessment work of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) mission at the Zaporiyia nuclear power plant.

“It is expedient not so much to carry out the IAEA peacekeeping mission as the nuclear engineering audit,” Podoliak has assessed, adding that the Ukrainian authorities have not yet received data on the situation at the plant in terms of cooling circuits or personnel.

In this regard, Podoliak has explained that the experts who should inspect Zaporiyia have to understand nuclear physics, as well as about engineering technologies, while being able to be close to the plant’s personnel.

“There are Russian troops there who do not understand what is going on. The risks are not well assessed. There are a number of our workers there who need some kind of protection – to have people from the international community nearby,” he has explained.

Despite this, the advisor to the Ukrainian Presidency has approved the IAEA’s initiative to make the presence of its representatives at the plant permanent, as this may imply greater protection for the plant’s workers, UNIAN news agency has reported.

The IAEA director general is expected to issue a report this week on the nuclear safety situation in Ukraine that will also include his findings as part of his visit to the plant last week.

Russian and Ukrainian authorities have accused each other of endangering the Zaporiyia power plant with artillery shelling, prompting the IAEA to send an inspection mission last week to assess the situation.

The Zaporiyia power plant is the largest in Europe and has six reactors commissioned between 1984 and 1995. It has been controlled by Russian forces since March this year, shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine began.