UN agency to inspect Ukraine nuclear plant in urgent mission
Source: AP
By PAUL BYRNE
KYIV (AP) — A U.N. nuclear watchdog team set off on an urgent mission Monday to safeguard the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia atomic power plant at the heart of fighting in Ukraine, a long-awaited trip that the world hopes will help avoid a radioactive catastrophe.
The stakes couldn’t be higher for the International Atomic Energy Agency experts who will visit the plant in a country where the 1986 Chernobyl disaster spewed radiation throughout the region, shocking the world and intensifying a global push away from nuclear energy.
“Without an exaggeration, this mission will be the hardest in the history of IAEA,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said.
Underscoring the urgency, Ukraine and Russia again accused each other of shelling the wider region around the nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest, which was briefly knocked offline last week. The dangers are so high that officials have begun handing out anti-radiation iodine tablets to nearby residents.
This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows bush fires outside of the main power plant facilities at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Russian occupied Ukraine, Monday Aug. 29, 2022. A team from the U.N. nuclear watchdog on Monday started its journey to the Zaporizhzhia atomic power plant at the heart of fighting in Ukraine, a long-awaited mission to inspect crucial safety systems that the world hopes will help avoid a catastrophe. (Satellite image ©2022 Maxar Technologies via AP)
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