The director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency told the agency’s board of governors that ensuring nuclear safety in Ukraine and Russia was “extremely challenging,” an agency press release said Monday.
Director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi traveled to the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine Sept. 4 to examine damage caused by a fire at the plant in August. Grossi also traveled to Kaliningrad to meet with Russian department senior leadership. He briefed the board of governors on both of these trips.
“No nuclear power plant, no matter where it’s located, should be a military target,” Grossi said in the release. IAEA would strive to continue to “be a positive factor in this very complex international equation” by continuing to communicate with both countries, he said.
Grossi also briefed the board on Iran and Syria. He said correspondence with Iran’s new government has been “very constructive and open to an engagement with the agency,” and that he hopes to visit Iran soon with aims to move toward diplomacy.