Situation at Europe's largest nuclear power plant is 'out of control'

The head of the United Nations (UN) International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has warned of the "completely out of control" situation in Ukraine.

Europe's largest nuclear power plant (NPP), the Zaporizhzhia NPP, is located in Ukraine and has been the site of numerous battles since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began on February 24th, 2022. Rafael Grossi, the Director-General of the IAEA, has pleaded with Russia and Ukraine to allow experts to visit the complex and contain any potential for a nuclear accident.

The plant has suffered shelling attacks and weapons fire on its premises, potentially compromising its physical integrity. Paradoxically, the plant is currently under Russian control, though Ukrainian staff continue to come and go from the plant to continue operating it. The IAEA claim to have contact with some of the staff, however, they are "faulty" and "patchy" according to Grossi.

"When you put this together, you have a catalog of things that should never be happening in any nuclear facility. And this is why I have been insisting from day one that we have to be able to go there to perform this safety and security evaluation, to do the repairs and to assist as we already did in Chernobyl," Grossi said in an interview the Associated Press.

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