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US monitors radiation data in Zaporizhzhia, says senior defense official

US government scientists are monitoring data from radiation sensors at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, according to a senior US defense official, and have seen “no indication of increased or abnormal radiation levels so far.”

The official said the US is pressuring Russia “to vacate the plant and allow the Ukrainians to operate it in peace”.

“We are very committed to ensuring that the IAEA can send its staff to the plant and ensure the safety of the plant’s operations,” the official added.

IAEA mission at the factory: Deputy Chief Spokesperson Vedant Patel said the US State Department “(hopes) Russia will keep its word and allow a full inspection of the facility.”

An International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) team, led by its boss Rafael Grossi, is on its way to the Russian-occupied plant in southeastern Ukraine. Authorities warned of the risk of a catastrophic nuclear incident amid shelling near the facility. US and Ukrainian officials have called for a demilitarized zone around the factory.

Separately, a top US military official said that “air strikes and artillery bombardments that took place around the nuclear plant” and that the US knows “with great confidence that the Russians are firing from the area around the nuclear plant” as well how much they know that they use “the nuclear plant to store a lot of their equipment”.

However, this official also said that “there is probably a probability” that the Ukrainians also fired in the vicinity of the plant.

“In several cases, it is responding to fire from the Russians who are shooting from these locations,” the official said.

Source: CNN Brasil

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