IAEA Chief Grossi: Kursk NPP Operating in 'Close to Normal' Mode

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, visited the Kursk NPP the day before and said that the plant was operating in a ‘close to normal’ mode, Ukrinform reports citing Reuters.

At a press conference after visiting the plant, the IAEA chief noted that the Kursk NPP is ‘extremely vulnerable’ because there is no protective dome over the facility. The plant is currently operating in close to normal mode, but this means that the safety situation is even more serious.

At the same time, Russian officials tried to use the visit of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi to the Kursk NPP to portray Ukraine as a threat of a radiation incident, which could possibly undermine Western support for the country by fuelling unfounded fears about Ukraine.

This is stated in a report by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

The IAEA acknowledged that Russia had informed the agency that it had found drone wreckage on the territory of the Kursk nuclear power plant, but the IAEA did not provide any assessment of where it came from or any confirmation of Russian claims that there was evidence of hostilities ‘nearby’, including drones and drone wreckage.

The ISW has previously noted that Ukrainian forces have consistently demonstrated the ability to strike at the rear areas of Russia and occupied Ukraine at distances exceeding approximately 60 kilometres between the NPP and the international border, or approximately 30–40 kilometres from the current Ukrainian base in the Kursk region. This suggests that the Ukrainian military command is deliberately avoiding strikes on the nuclear power plant.

‘The Kremlin regularly tries to portray Ukraine as a threat to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia NPP and extended this information operation to the KNPP shortly after Ukraine's offensive in the Kursk region,’ the analysts said.