With Ukraine and Russia accusing each other of plans to sabotage Europe's biggest nuclear plant, the U.N. atomic watchdog said it found no evidence of planted mines or explosives – but needed better access to be certain.
The warring nations traded barbs over supposed plans to attack the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, where nearby fighting and shelling has kept the region on edge. However, neither country offered any solid evidence to back up their claims.
Experts with the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency who are stationed at the plant have inspected parts of the facility in recent days and weeks. But Russian forces occupying the plant are restricting some access.
“Following our requests, our experts have gained some additional access at the site," IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said on Friday.
"So far, they have not seen any mines or explosives. But they still need more access, including to the rooftops of reactor units 3 and 4 and parts of the turbine halls," he said. "I remain hopeful that this access will be granted soon."
Shelling around the plant and the destruction of the Kakhovka major dam and hydroelectric power station along the Dnieper River have put the plant's cooling system, power sources and other safety operations in severe jeopardy.
In late June, IAEA said it was aware of reports that mines and other explosives were placed in and around the plant.
Access needed to 'confirm the absence' of a threat
Earlier in the week the IAEA chief said his teams were pushing to ascertain whether the plant was sabotaged.
“With military tension and activities increasing in the region where this major nuclear power plant is located, our experts must be able to verify the facts on the ground," Grossi said on Wednesday.
"Their independent and objective reporting would help clarify the current situation at the site, which is crucial at a time like this with unconfirmed allegations and counter allegations,” he said.
Earlier last month the sabotage of the dam in southern Ukraine created what President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called “the largest man-made environmental disaster in Europe in decades" that IAEA also was closely monitoring.
Zelenskyy said Russian forces blew up the dam and hydropower station while Russia blamed the catastrophe on the Ukrainian military.
The dam supplied water to large areas of southeastern Ukraine and the Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula and provided water for cooling six reactors and for spent fuel and emergency diesel generators at Zaporizhzhya.
Grossi said his inspectors have looked at some sections of the perimeter of the large cooling pond and conducted regular "walkdowns" across the site, so far without observing any visible indications of mines or explosives.
As a result, IAEA experts requested additional access that is necessary to "confirm the absence" of mines or explosives. Grossi said they particularly need access to the rooftops of two reactor units and to parts of the turbine halls and cooling system.
This story has been updated with additional details.
