The sound of artillery fire near Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station and the temporary loss of its only remaining backup power line have again underlined persistent nuclear safety and security risks during the military conflict in the country, the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, said on Tuesday (28 February).

Grossi also expressed concern about continued delays in the rotation of the team of IAEA experts currently at the site of Europe’s largest nuclear power station, who should have been replaced by a new team more than three weeks ago.

He said he hoped the rotation could finally take place later this week and renewed his appeal for constructive efforts by all involved parties to make this happen, saying the important nuclear safety and security work of the IAEA support and assistance mission to Zaporizhzhia was in everybody’s interest.

The IAEA placed staff at the facility on a permanent basis last September, when repeated shelling had raised the prospect of a possible disaster at the site.