New IAEA monitors reach Ukraine nuclear plant at fourth attempt, Russian official tells TASS

Russia and Ukraine have both accused the other of risking a nuclear accident, IAEA monitors have been posted at the station since September.

 International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Rafael Grossi attends an IAEA Board of Governors meeting in Vienna, Austria, September 12, 2022 (photo credit: REUTERS/LEONHARD FOEGER)
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Rafael Grossi attends an IAEA Board of Governors meeting in Vienna, Austria, September 12, 2022
(photo credit: REUTERS/LEONHARD FOEGER)

A new team of monitors from the UN nuclear watchdog has taken up its duties at Ukraine's Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station at the fourth attempt, a Russian official told TASS news agency on Thursday.

Russia has accused the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of disrupting the latest monthly rotation of staff at the plant, which it said had been scheduled for February 7.

Europe's largest nuclear power plant, with six reactors, was occupied by Russian troops early in their invasion of Ukraine and remains near the front line.

Importance of the site

With each side accusing the other of shelling it and risking a nuclear accident, IAEA monitors have been posted at the station since September.

"Seven people arrived - three IAEA specialists and four employees of the UN Security Department," Renat Karchaa, adviser to the general director of the Russian nuclear agency Rosenergoatom, told the state-run TASS on Thursday.

 A general view shows the Pivdennoukrainsk Nuclear Power Plant in Yuzhnoukrainsk, Mykolaiv region, Ukraine, September 18, 2015 (credit: Olga Yakimovich/Reuters)
A general view shows the Pivdennoukrainsk Nuclear Power Plant in Yuzhnoukrainsk, Mykolaiv region, Ukraine, September 18, 2015 (credit: Olga Yakimovich/Reuters)

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said on Monday that the agency's teams had reported more explosions near the plant, which on several occasions have caused it to lose its only remaining backup power line.

Grossi has been pressing both sides to establish a demilitarized "safe zone" around the plant.