Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), points on a map of the Ukrainian Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant as he informs the press about the situation of nuclear powerplants in Ukraine during a special press conference at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna, Austria on March 4, 2022. (JOE KLAMAR / AFP)
Rafael Grossi, the head of the UN atomic watchdog says there has been no release of radioactive material at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant in Ukraine, which caught fire overnight during a battle with Russian troops.
Grossi says the attacks did not impact reactors, but an adjacent building. “It is important to say that all the safety systems of the six reactors at the plant were not affected at all,” Grossi says according to Sky News.
“There has been no release of radioactive material,” he says.
Grossi says two people are injured in the overnight attack, believed to be security personnel.
He adds that the International Atomic Energy Agency is in contact with both Russian and Ukrainian forces.
“Here I should emphasize for the time being [the control room] is purely Ukrainian staff running the operations there,” Grossi says according to Sky.
Grossi adds that the projectile which hit the plant “came from the Russian forces.”
This image made from a video released by Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant shows bright flaring objects landing in the grounds of the nuclear plant in Enerhodar, Ukraine, March 4, 2022. (Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant via AP)
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