Russia seized the plant in March 2022, during the first weeks of the war, raising fears of a nuclear accident. The Russians have allowed limited access to the International Atomic Energy Agency, citing security reasons.
After a four-day visit to Japan, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said the agency had made progress in gaining access to Zaporizhia, but with “some limitations.”
“It’s like a conversation and I’m pushing for as much access as possible,” Grossi told the Associated Press in Tokyo, adding that there was a “marginal improvement.”
“I am optimistic that we will be able to go see them,” Grossi said of the roofs.
The IAEA has repeatedly warned of the possibility of a Chernobyl-like radioactive catastrophe in northern Ukraine after a reactor explosion in 1986.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denounced on Tuesday that according to the latest intelligence reports, Russian troops had placed “explosive-like objects” on the roofs of various units to “simulate” an attack as part of a false flag operation.
The “foreign objects” were placed on the roofs of the plant’s third and fourth power units, the General Staff of the Ukrainian armed forces said in a statement.
Grossi said the IAEA carried out simulations of the possible environmental impact in the event of an explosion or bombing of the plant, but declined to go into details.
The IAEA has agents at the plant, which is held by Russia but is operated by Ukrainian personnel.
FUENTE: Associated Press
