The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) expressed concerns about the shelling the previous day at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, saying the action showed the risk of a nuclear disaster, Reuters reports.
“I’m extremely concerned by the shelling yesterday at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, which underlines the very real risk of a nuclear disaster that could threaten public health and the environment in Ukraine and beyond,” director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said in a statement.
He added that military action jeopardising the safety and security of the Zaporizhzhia plant “is completely unacceptable and must be avoided at all costs”.
“Any military firepower directed at or from the facility would amount to playing with fire, with potentially catastrophic consequences.”
Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s office said it had started criminal proceedings against what it said was rocket and artillery shelling by the Russian military of Zaporizhzhia power plant on Friday.
Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of shelling Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant.
