IAEA chief warns of risk of accident at Russian nuclear plant

Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi warned of the risk of a nuclear accident after visiting Russia’s Kursk nuclear power plant, stressing the “situation was serious.”

“The danger or possibility of a nuclear accident has emerged near here,” Grossi told reporters, referring to the fact that fighting is taking place in the surrounding Kursk region.

Grossi said the RBMK-type facility the same model as the Chornobyl plant in Ukraine, which witnessed the worlds worst civilian nuclear disaster in 1986 lacks the containment dome and protective structure that is typical of modern nuclear power plants.

“This means that the core of the reactor containing nuclear material is protected just by a normal roof. This makes it extremely exposed and fragile, for example, to an artillery impact or a drone or a missile,” he said.

He said the site was currently still operating very close to normal conditions, but this meant that the situation regarding its security was even more serious.

Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine last week of trying to attack the Kursk plant. Ukraine has yet to respond to the accusations that it attacked the facility.

Grossi said the purpose of his visit was to draw the worlds attention to the situation and to say: “Basically, never, ever must or should a nuclear power plant be attacked in any way.”

The IAEA has repeatedly warned of the dangers of fighting around nuclear plants since Russias military operation in Ukraine began in February 2022.