SpaceWar.com - Your World At War
After Ukraine, UN atomic watchdog chief visits Russia
Vienna, March 31 (AFP) Mar 31, 2022
UN atomic watchdog chief Rafael Grossi was in Russia on Thursday ahead of talks the following day with top Russian officials, after visiting neighbouring Ukraine.

Grossi visited a nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine on Wednesday on his first trip to the country since Russia's invasion raised fears of a nuclear accident.

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency has repeatedly warned of the dangers of the conflict -- the first in a country with a vast nuclear estate.

"Grossi arrived in Kaliningrad today for talks with senior Russian officials tomorrow morning," the IAEA wrote in a statement late Thursday.

After his visit to Ukraine, the agency was in close consultations with Ukrainian authorities towards sending its first "assistance and support mission" to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the next few days, it added.

Grossi was expected to return to the IAEA's headquarters in the Austrian capital Vienna on Friday and hold a press conference later in the afternoon.

Ukraine has 15 reactors at four active nuclear power plants, as well as stores of nuclear waste, including at Chernobyl -- the site of the world's worst nuclear disaster in 1986.

Ukrainian officials said late Thursday that Russians had withdrawn from Chernobyl after weeks of occupation.

Russian forces seized control of the defunct power plant site -- where radioactive waste is still stored -- on February 24, the first day of the invasion.

They also captured Europe's largest nuclear plant at Zaporizhzhia on March 4, sparking alarm when shelling caused a fire at a training facility.


ADVERTISEMENT




Space News from SpaceDaily.com
NASA raises chance for asteroid to hit moon
Tidal forces from the Sun may have shaped Mercury's tectonic features
Thick Martian clays may have formed in stable ancient lakebeds

24/7 Energy News Coverage
Israeli army says struck ' inactive nuclear reactor' in Iran's Arak
New Zealand targets leadership in superconducting space tech with new research alliance
ICEYE radar imaging added to SkyFi satellite data platform

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
Axient joins Space Force STEP 20 initiative to drive next generation orbital tech
Trump 'Golden Dome' plan tricky and expensive: experts
Can NATO keep Trump on-message about Russia threat?

24/7 News Coverage
NASA scientists find ties between Earth's oxygen and magnetic field
How did life survive 'Snowball Earth'? In ponds, study suggests
Arctic warming spurs growth of carbon-soaking peatlands



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.