IAEA inspection finds no sign of unregistered nuclear activity at facilities in Ukraine

BERLIN. Nov 3 (Interfax) - An inspection carried out by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) at three facilities in Ukraine at the request of the country's authorities has found no signs of non-registered nuclear activity, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said in a statement.

"Over the past few days, the inspectors were able to carry out all activities that the IAEA had planned to conduct and were given unfettered access to the locations. Based on the evaluation of the results available to date and the information provided by Ukraine, the Agency did not find any indications of undeclared nuclear activities and materials at the locations," the statement said.

In addition, the inspectors took environmental samples for analysis at IAEA labs. This measure is meant to provide information on past and current activities relating to the handling of nuclear materials; the results will be published as soon as they are ready, Grossi said.

He stressed that the IAEA was ready to continue such inspections in Ukraine in future.

On October 27, Russian President Vladimir Putin urged the IAEA to inspect Ukrainian nuclear facilities in relation to what he said was data on Kiev's plans to use a dirty bomb. During an exchange of opinions at a plenary session of the international Valdai discussion club Putin stressed that Russia was in favor of the IAEA initiative to inspect nuclear facilities in Ukraine.