The IAEA Team Departed From Kyiv Today, Tomorrow Arriving At PLTN Zaporizhia For Inspection: Security Ratified For Russia And Ukraine

Rafael Grossi with the team who left for PLTN Zaporizhia. (Twitter/@rafaelmgrossi)

JAKARTA - The UN nuclear inspector departed for Ukraine's Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant (PLTN) on Wednesday, after weeks of fire nearby sparked fears of radiation disasters such as in Fukushima, while Russian tensions with Ukraine escalated.

Citing Reuters, August 31, who took part in the Kyiv IAEA group, the convoy will spend the night in the nearby city of Zaporizhia, before visiting a plant located in a Russian-controlled territory tomorrow.

Russian officials in the area estimate the visit may only last a day. Meanwhile, IAEA and Ukraine officials expect it to last longer.

"We are now finally moving after six months of hard work," IAEA chief Rafael Grossi told reporters before the convoy departed.

He added that the mission plans to spend "a few days" at Europe's largest nuclear plant site.

"We have a very important task to do there, to assess the real situation there, to help stabilize the situation as much as we can. We will go into a war zone, we go to occupied territory, this requires explicit guarantees, not only from the Russian Federation but also from Ukraine. We have managed to secure it," Grossi said.

Grossi said the IAEA hopes to set up a permanent mission at the generator and one of its priorities is to talk to the Ukrainian technicians who run it.

"That's one of the most important things I want to do and I'm going to do it," he said.

Russia seized the plant in early March, as part of what Moscow called a "special military operation." Something described by Kyiv and West as an unwarranted invasion, designed to seize land and remove Ukraine's identity.

Despite Russian troops, Ukrainian workers have defended to ensure the PLTN's operations. Both Ukraine and Russia blame each other for attacks on the power plants and surrounding areas.

Kyiv said Russia had used the plant as a shield to attack major and small cities, knowing it would be difficult for Ukraine to retaliate. They also accused Russian troops of firing the factory.

"The situation at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant and in Energhodar and its surroundings remains very dangerous," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said late Tuesday.

"The risk of radiation disasters due to Russia's actions has not decreased for an hour," he continued.

Moscow has denied Ukrainian accusations, questioning why it will fire a facility, where its own forces are stationed as what it describes as security details.

Instead, Moscow accused Ukraine of firing the factory to try to cause international outrage, it hoped Kyiv would generate a demilitarized zone. Russia said it had no intention of withdrawing its troops at this time.

It is not yet clear whether the team's plans to spend several days in the power plant area can be allowed, after Yevgeny Balitsky, head of Russia's installed administration in the area, told the Interfax news agency that IAEA inspectors should carry out inspection work within a day.

It is also unclear whether Russia will allow the IAEA to establish a permanent presence at the power plant, although Moscow has said it is aware that that that is what Grossi wants to do.