Vienna, Jan 20 (UNI) The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Friday its experts had once again detected mines along the perimeter of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP).
“Mines along the perimeter of the ZNPP, in a buffer zone between the facility’s internal and external fences, which were previously identified by the IAEA team and were removed in November 2023, are now back in place. This is a restricted area inaccessible to operational plant personnel,” the IAEA said in a statement.
The presence of the mines does not meet the IAEA’s safety standards, the statement read.
IAEA experts have been working at the ZNPP since September 2022. In 2023, the agency said its experts had found directional anti-personnel mines in a buffer zone between the internal and external fences of the ZNPP. The mines were not expected to pose a threat to the facility’s nuclear safety and security systems even if they exploded. IAEA experts said that the mines were located in a restricted area, with operating plant personnel having no access to it.
Located on the left bank of the Dnipro River, the ZNPP is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe in terms of the number of units and energy output. It came under the control of Russian forces in early March 2022 and has since been repeatedly shelled, raising international concerns over a possible nuclear accident.
