IAEA chief warns of nuclear incident risk in Kursk Region

Military action taking place in the vicinity of Russia’s Kursk nuclear power plant poses a risk of a “nuclear incident,” Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told journalists on Tuesday.

The senior official paid a visit to the facility located in the city of Kurchatov in Kursk Region, close to where Kiev launched a large-scale incursion earlier this month. Russian officials previously accused Ukrainian troops of targeting the facility with drones, one of which reportedly fell next to the plant’s storage of spent fuel last week.

Grossi reiterated that the Kursk nuclear power plant has an older design that does not include some of the protections that a more modern nuclear facility would have. For instance, it does not have domes, which would shield its four reactors in case of a major incident, such as a plane crashing into it, he said. The site’s construction was launched in the early 1970s.

The head of the UN watchdog commented on his previous comparison of the Kursk plant with the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, saying it should not be interpreted as meaning an incident at the Kursk facility would be of the same scale as the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. However, Grossi said the agency is determined to mitigate the risks.

”This conflict, this war is not the responsibility of the IAEA. What is the responsibility of the IAEA – and we are going to assume that responsibility – is to make sure that no nuclear accident takes place,” he said, adding that his message would be the same everywhere.

In the end it may sound very common-sense and simple: don’t attack a nuclear power plant.

Before the visit, Grossi said he was closely monitoring developments in the Russian region and that his trip would allow the IAEA to conduct an independent assessment of the plant’s safety for the international community. He is scheduled to visit Ukraine next week.

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