Landmines placed around Ukraine’s Russian-occupied Nuclear Power Plant: UN

IAEA has repeatedly expressed concern about the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which is one of the 10 biggest in the world, amid fears of a potential nuclear catastrophe

Kyiv: The UN atomic watchdog says its staff at Ukraine‘s Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant report seeing anti-personnel mines around the site as Kyiv pursues a counteroffensive against the Kremlin’s entrenched forces after 17 months of war.

“Having such explosives on the site is inconsistent with the IAEA safety standards and nuclear security guidance and creates additional psychological pressure on plant staff,” International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi said in a statement.

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However, any detonation of the mines, located between the site’s internal and external perimeter barriers, “should not affect the site’s nuclear safety and security systems,” the statement said. The IAEA has repeatedly expressed concern about the facility, which is one of the 10 biggest in the world, amid fears of a potential nuclear catastrophe.

The UN agency has officials stationed at the plant, which is still run by its Ukrainian staff. The plant’s six reactors have been shut down for months, but it still needs power and qualified staff to operate crucial cooling systems and other safety features.

Ukraine’s military intelligence said last month without providing evidence that Russia is planning a “large-scale provocation” at the nuclear power plant in the southeast of the country and had placed suspected explosives on the roof. Russia, in turn, has alleged without offering evidence that Ukraine was planning a false flag attack involving radioactive materials. The IAEA statement said that the Russian occupiers still haven’t granted it access to the roofs of the reactors and their turbine halls.