VIENNA, 9 Dec Head of the International Atomic Energy Agency ( IAEA) Rafael Grossi did not rule out that the protective zone around the Zaporozhye NPP could be agreed upon and would start working in the near future.
«We are making progress in our consultations with Ukraine and Russia, and I hope that the zone will be agreed and put into effect in the near future. It is urgently needed,» said Grossi, whose words are quoted in a statement on the IAEA website.
The day before, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that Moscow had sent proposals to the IAEA with specific parameters for creating a security zone around Zaporizhzhya NPP, they are under consideration by the agency.
Zaporozhye NPP is located on the left bank of the Dnieper near the city of Energodar. This is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe in terms of the number of units and installed capacity — the plant has six power units with a capacity of 1 gigawatt each. Since March, it has been under the protection of the Russian military. The Russian Foreign Ministry emphasized that this step was justified in order to prevent leakage of nuclear and radioactive materials.
The Ukrainian military continues to regularly shell Energodar and the territory of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant adjacent to the city. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that the Kiev regime seeks to create the appearance of a threat of a nuclear catastrophe by continuing to purposefully shell the ZNPP.