Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, confirmed that the area around the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant in Ukraine has been mined again.
Grossi warned that the placement of mines in the buffer zone of the power plant – between its inner and outer fence, is against safety standards.
The IAEA said that its team, sent to monitor the security of the plant, had previously identified mines in the same place, but that they had been removed in November last year.
The head of the Ukrainian state nuclear company “Energoatom” Petro Kotin said that laying mines is another crime committed by the Russian forces that occupied the Ukrainian power plant in Zaporozhye.
The IAEA has repeatedly expressed concern that the conflicts could cause a radiation leak from the plant, which is one of the 10 largest in the world.
All six of the plant’s reactors have been idle for months, but it needs electricity and qualified personnel to operate its cooling system.
