Last week, Russia notified the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of the discovery of the remains of a drone a few meters from the Kursk nuclear power plant, in the border region with Ukraine that is partially occupied by Kiev’s troops. after the surprise raid since early August. The Kursk nuclear facility is located in the town of Kurchatov, about 60 kilometers from the border. The UN agency announced last week that its director general, Argentine Rafael Grossiwould go there on Tuesday to check the situation on the ground, as it has been.

According to information in the agency’s possession, transmitted by the Russian authorities, the fragments of the drone were found about a hundred meters from the fuel warehouse used the nuclear power plant after it was intercepted “in the early hours of August 22.” “Military activity near a nuclear power plant poses a serious risk to nuclear safety,” the IAEA chief warned, without specifying where the drone shot down in the area of ​​the plant came from.

On Tuesday, the head of the Vienna-based agency informed the parties in a statement that “due to new events and increased military activity in the vicinity of the Kursk nuclear power plant, I continued to” close the developments on the ground, particularly with regard to the plant.

“It is important that we are there when the Agency is called upon to fulfil its mandate to ensure that nuclear energy is used for peaceful purposes. It is also important that we are there when the international community needs an independent assessment of the technological and physical security of a nuclear facility,” Grossi said. “The only way for the IAEA to validate information is when we have the opportunity to independently assess what is happening.”

The IAEA director inspected the reactor and the control room of the plant together with officials from the Russian nuclear agency Rosatom and confirmed that the plant does not have “the defense and containment structures of other more modern plants” and that “the core of the reactor is protected by a normal roof”, which makes it “fragile” and “extremely exposed” to a possible attack. “Indeed, in the event of an impact of an external action on the active zone of this reactor, a nuclear incident would occur, with a possible radioactive leak,” he noted.

The Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine of launching the attack on the plant, a version that kyiv rejected hours later, amid cross-accusations. The IAEA urged the parties involved in the conflict to avoid hostilities around nuclear power plants, particularly around the Ukrainian factory in Zaporizhiaoccupied by Russia since March 2022. After visiting the factory, Grossi assured that he would go to kyiv, where he hopes to be received by the president. Volodymyr Zelensky.