UN Atomic Agency chief says urgent action required to prevent nuclear accident in Ukraine following new blasts near nuclear plant

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi issued a blistering statement on the urgent need to prevent a nuclear accident in Ukraine after shelling again took place extremely close to the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant in the south-eastern part of the country on Sunday, UN News reports.

Warnings of disaster have been given repeatedly as shelling has come close to the ZNPP several times since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.

IAEA experts said they received reports of some dozen blasts close to the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant early on Sunday morning. While the plant was not hit directly, Grossi on Sunday said the shells came “dangerously close” to key safety and nuclear systems. It is not yet known whose shells were involved in the incident, but no one was hurt.

“As I have said many times before, you’re playing with fire!” said Grossi, who has been working with Ukraine and Russia to try and set up a security zone around the Zaporizhzhya plant. “I’m not giving up until this zone has become a reality. As the ongoing apparent shelling demonstrates, it is needed more than ever,” Grossi said.

“We are talking meters, not kilometers,” Grossi attested. “Whoever is shelling at the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant is taking huge risks and gambling with many people’s lives.”

The IAEA team announced they would be carrying out an inspection of the site on Monday, UN News said.

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