17:32 25.05.2022

Energoatom denies info of IAEA head about presence of materials for nuclear weapons at occupied Zaporizhia NPP

2 min read
Energoatom denies info of IAEA head about presence of materials for nuclear weapons at occupied Zaporizhia NPP

Energoatom has refuted the information voiced in Davos by the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Mariano Grossi, about stockpiles of 30,000 kg of plutonium and 40,000 kg of enriched uranium at Zaporizhia nuclear power plant occupied by Russian invaders, which, in his opinion, are at risk of being kidnapped for military purposes.

"Neither uranium nor plutonium, which could be used for military purposes, was and is not stored at Zaporizhia nuclear power plant. But fuel assemblies are stored, but this is a completely different story, and it is called nuclear fuel. Which, of course, is present at all nuclear power plants in the world," Energoatom wrote on its Telegram channel on Wednesday.

The company also noted that at the NPP, spent nuclear fuel is stored in a special dry storage facility, which also does not in any way relate to "voiced nonsense."

On the eve of that day, during a discussion on nuclear security at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Grossi expressed concern that such nuclear materials were located at the NPP, stressing that this was also the basis for an early visit of the IAEA to Zaporizhia NPP.

"We are trying to get back to the nuclear power plant in Zaporizhia, which is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. Six nuclear reactors, 30,000 kg of plutonium, 40,000 kg of enriched uranium, and my inspectors do not have access to this," he said.

At the same time, he called an unprecedented and unviable situation in which the nuclear power plant is controlled by Russian forces, but the Ukrainian operator Energoatom manages it.

According to him, under such conditions, the IAEA cannot have enough leverage to control nuclear safety.

"So we hope to go there to also prevent possible problems. Or we end up finding out that several hundred kilograms of material for nuclear weapons have disappeared. This is what keeps us awake at night," Grossi said.

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