IAEA chief says less shelling at Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, inspects water supply

UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi on Wednesday welcomed a reduction in shelling around the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine and inspected wells to determine if there was sufficient water for cooling.

Grossi noted the lower level of combat operations around the plant in southeastern Ukraine in a video posted on the website of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

"The physical integrity of the plant has been relatively stable," Grossi said in the video.

"There have been fewer episodes of direct attacks or shelling around it, which is a positive development, although we take it with enormous caution."

Grossi said an inspection of water supplies was important after the destruction last year of the Nova Kakhovka hydroelectric facility that had previously provided supplies.

"I was able to look at the wells that have been drilled to provide water that has been in deficit here after the episode at the Nova Kakhovka dam," Grossi said.

Staffing issues at the nuclear site and availability of qualified staff were also discussed, he said.

Earlier reports by Russian news agencies said the IAEA had rotated its team of observers permanently stationed at Zaporizhzhia.

Ukraine said last year it feared the plant could face a shortage of water, a danger even with the reactors shut down.

Nuclear plants need enough water to cool their reactors and to help prevent a nuclear meltdown.

Grossi said there was enough water to do that, Russian news agency TASS reported.

"We visited what was important to me – the splash cooling pools, and made sure that the wells placed there were sufficient to adequately supply water to these pools," TASS quoted Grossi as saying.

Grossi was accompanied on his visit by Russian soldiers who have occupied the territory where the nuclear plant is located.

On Tuesday, Grossi told reporters in Kyiv that his visit was intended to establish whether the plant could be run with a reduced staff and whether its years-old uranium fuel was safe.

He discussed the security situation and potential risks at the occupied plant with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

(With input from Reuters)