IAEA mission arrives at Zaporizhzhya NPP

ENERHODAR. Sept 1 (Interfax) - An International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) mission has arrived at the nuclear power plant in Enerhodar in the Russia-controlled part of the Zaporizhzhya region of Ukraine, an Interfax correspondent reported from the ground on Thursday.

A convoy of nine vehicles entered the plant premises at about 2:15 p.m. MSK.

There was ongoing shelling an hour before their arrival, and the sound of explosions was audible in various parts of the city, the Interfax correspondent said.

Vladimir Rogov, a member of the Main Council in the military-civilian administration of the Zaporizhzhya region, said earlier on Thursday that "the IAEA mission traveling by nine white Toyota off-road vehicles protected by capsule armor passed through the checkpoint in Vasylivka and headed to Enerhodar."

The Zaporizhzhya NPP is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. It operates six VVER-1000 reactor units, the first of which was put into operation in December 1984 and the sixth in October 1995.

According to the regional authorities, only Unit 5 and Unit 6 of the NPP have been running at 60% and 80% of their capacity, respectively, and supplying power to Ukraine in the recent days.

The full program of the IAEA mission has not been officially published. According to the head of the regional military-political administration, Yevgeny Balitsky, this is a one-day program. He presumed that the experts will examine the two working reactors, the waste storage site and the cooling system. There are also plans to show the impact from Ukrainian strikes to them, he said.

The Russian Defense Ministry and the Enerhodar authorities have repeatedly reported attacks on the NPP and the infrastructure used by personnel. The strikes intensified in August and continued in recent days. They have not disrupted the operation of the reactors, but did damage to the auxiliary systems, including cooling pools, and hit the area near the radioactive isotope storage sites.