The head of the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) watchdog, Rafael Grossi, said on Wednesday (4) that a cooling tower at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant was seriously damaged in a fire last month and would likely have to be demolished.
The agency’s director general made the comment during his fifth visit to the plant, which was seized by Russian forces shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Moscow and Kiev have regularly accused each other of attacking the plant and risking a nuclear accident.
Grossi posted a video on social media platform X showing him and IAEA officials assessing the damage while inside the cooling tower.
“To this day, we have not been able to reach that point, at the top of the tower, so that we can assess in a much better way the damage that has occurred,” Grossi, wearing a helmet and bulletproof vest, said in the video.
“This large structure is not usable in the future, so it will likely be demolished at some point.”
A fire broke out in the tower on August 11, with Russia and Ukraine accusing each other of the actions that sparked the blaze.
(Produced by Mahezabin Syed and Lion Schellerer)
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This content was originally published in Tower at Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant must be demolished after fire, says UN agency on CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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