Situation around Kursk NPP tense, but permanent mission not planned - IAEA

Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, said that the situation around the Kursk nuclear power plant remains serious, but his agency does not plan to deploy a permanent mission at the facility.

This is reported by Reuters.

"(The situation) is serious because a military offensive has taken place, and this offensive has reached the stage where it is not so far from the nuclear power plant," the head of the IAEA said.

It is indicated that Ukrainian troops remain in the southern part of the Kursk Oblast of russia and are at a distance of about 40 km from the object.

Grossi visited the Kursk nuclear power plant last month and said it would be "extremely vulnerable" if attacked because the facility has no protective dome.

In addition, he said, the IAEA has no plans to station observers on a permanent basis, as was done at four Ukrainian stations, including the Zaporizhzhia station, which was occupied by russian forces in the early days of the russian federation's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Grossi noted that the situation at the Zaporizhzhia station remains tense, with each side regularly accusing the other of plans to attack the station.

"My experts continue to report military activity near the station," he said.

Since the invasion of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Mr. Grossi has visited it five times and called on both sides to exercise restraint to prevent any nuclear accident.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, stated that there is a risk of a "nuclear incident" at russia's Kursk nuclear power plant due to reactor insecurity.

Previously, russian propaganda media began to mass disseminate information about Ukraine's alleged preparations for strikes on the Zaporizhzhia and Kursk nuclear power plants.

ISW analyzed the purposes of russian accusations against Ukraine for allegedly creating a threat to the Kursk NPP.