IAEA chief working on mission to Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant

VIENNA (Reuters) -The U.N. nuclear watchdog is working on sending an international mission of experts to the Russian-held nuclear power plant at Zaporizhzhia in Ukraine, Europe’s largest, its chief Rafael Grossi said on Monday.

International Atomic Energy Agency chief Grossi has for months said that the situation at Zaporizhzhia, where Ukrainian staff are working under Russian orders, poses a safety risk and said he wants to lead a mission there.

Ukraine has now indicated that it is concerned about the supply of spare parts to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), Grossi told a quarterly meeting of his agency’s 35-nation Board of Governors, adding that data on nuclear material there was still not being transmitted to the IAEA as it should.

“I have taken note of the appeal by the Ukrainian government,” Grossi said.

“We are developing the modalities to dispatch such a mission; other considerations should not prevent this essential international mission from taking place.”

Grossi told the Board the situation at Zaporizhzhia is “a clear and present risk to the safety, security and safeguards at the nuclear power plant”.

(Reporting by Francois Murphy; Editing by Catherine Evans and Alison Williams)