Issued a Statement Refuting Russian Claims
"Experts Could Not Find Anything"
[Asia Economy Reporter Lim On-yu] The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has refuted Russian claims that Ukraine is storing Western weapons at its nuclear power plants.
On the 26th (local time), the IAEA stated, "There were claims that military equipment was stored at some nuclear power plant sites, but IAEA experts on site found nothing that would compromise nuclear safety or facility security."
On the 23rd, Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) claimed in a statement that the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) supported by the United States, air defense systems, and shells were sent to the Rivne Nuclear Power Plant located in northwestern Ukraine.
The IAEA, which has dispatched security specialists to all nuclear power plants in Ukraine, explained, "Equipment is regularly delivered to the plants, and we understand that replacement turbine blades were recently transported to the Rivne Nuclear Power Plant."
As concerns over radiation safety grew due to repeated shelling near Ukrainian nuclear power plant sites, the IAEA deployed security experts as resident personnel at local nuclear plants.
At the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, the largest nuclear facility in Europe, personnel have been stationed since the second half of last year, and since the end of last year, IAEA experts have also been present at four other plants?Rivne, South Ukraine, Khmelnytskyi, and Chernobyl?monitoring safety conditions.
On this day, the IAEA reported that several strong explosions recently occurred near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, where there had been no news of shelling damage for some time.
The IAEA said, "These explosions suggest military activities are ongoing near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant," adding, "Yesterday (the 25th), around 10 a.m., eight strong explosions were heard, and the windows of the plant's office shook."
Since shelling damage continued at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant after July-August last year, the IAEA proposed designating the area around the plant as a demilitarized safety zone and has been negotiating with both Russian and Ukrainian sides. However, no significant progress has been made so far.
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