IAEA mission leaves Zaporizhzhia plant with petition, evidence from local residents

Record ID: 1686922

  • Title: IAEA mission leaves Zaporizhzhia plant with petition, evidence from local residents
  • Date: 1st September 2022
  • Summary: ENERHODAR, UKRAINE (SEPTEMBER 1, 2022) (REUTERS) ZAPORIZHZHIA NUCLEAR POWER PLANT (ZNPP) BLOCK ONE RUSSIAN MILITARY VEHICLE OUTSIDE ZNPP VARIOUS OF ZNPP ADMINISTRATIVE BUILDING WITH PLANT LOGO VARIOUS OF ZNPP BLOCK ONE POSTER READING (Russian) "PEACEFUL ENERHODAR" LOCAL RESIDENT NATALYA CHIRNENKO SHOWING REPORTERS DOCUMENTATION OF DAMAGE DUE TO MILITARY ACTION IAEA MISSION LEADER AND DIRECTOR GENERAL RAFAEL GROSSI LISTENING TO LOCAL RESIDENTS GROSSI LOOKING THROUGH DOCUMENTS, AND SAYING: GROSSI (English): "So, you live in Enerhodar?" CHIRNENKO (Russian): "Yes, I live in Enerhodar" GROSSI (English): "With family?" CHIRNENKO (Russian): "Yes, with family". (SOUNDBITE) (English) IAEA MISSION LEADER AND DIRECTOR GENERAL RAFAEL GROSSI, SAYING: "I think that's the most important thing: to take care of the people, to make sure they are safe, and that this situation comes to an end. We will do everything in our power, every possibility that we can, to help stabilise the situation, to help bring the message to the world." (SOUNDBITE) (Russian and ENGLISH) UNNAMED LOCAL RESIDENT AND IAEA MISSION LEADER AND DIRECTOR GENERAL, RAFAEL GROSSI, SAYING: RESIDENT: "We ask you to stop this madness. This is all the 20,647 signatures. And we ask you to look at this and respond to it, so we can have peace and the nuclear plant blocks can work for peace." GROSSI: "Well, you can tell everyone that by taking this it is as if I was listening to their voices." VARIOUS OF IAEA MISSION LEAVING ZNPP SITE UNDER ESCORT DAMAGED RESIDENTIAL BUILDING (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) LOCAL RESIDENT, UNNAMED, SAYING: "At 5 a.m. (0200GMT). They started firing at 4:50 a.m. I was here, and it started. The first one landed on the roof." DAMAGED RESIDENTIAL BUILDING (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) LOCAL RESIDENT, UNNAMED, SAYING: "I went over there to get some coffee. It (a shell) came whistling through and I went to the left to hide. I went out and said, "Thank God for that", and another one came flying in. We sheltered by this building, from the other side, and hid in the basement." ENERHODAR STREET
  • Embargoed: 15th September 2022 18:48
  • Keywords: IAEA Nuclear Russia Ukraine ZNPP Zaporizhzhia
  • Location: ENERHODAR, UKRAINE
  • City: ENERHODAR, UKRAINE
  • Country: Ukraine
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Europe,Military Conflicts
  • Reuters ID: LVA001217701092022RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency on Thursday (September 1) visited the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine and said experts would maintain a continued presence at the facility.
    Rafael Grossi, who visited the plant for several hours, also said he would continue to worry until the situation at Zaporizhzhia had stabilised. Both Russia and Ukraine say they fear a possible radiation disaster as a result of shelling that the two sides blame on each other.
    "We are not going anywhere. The IAEA is now there, it is at the plant and it is not moving - it's going to stay there," Grossi told reporters.
    "We're going to have a continued presence there at the plant with some of my experts."
    Those experts, he said, would provide what he called an impartial neutral technically sound assessment of what was happening on the ground.
    "I worried, I worry and I will continue to be worried about the plant until we have a situation which is more stable, which is more predictable," he said.
    Local residents presented Grossi with a petition and documentation of damage caused by shelling in the area.
    Ukraine and Russia accuse each other of creating a risk of atomic catastrophe by shelling the plant, where the situation has been unravelling in recent weeks.
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