MOSCOW, Jan 5, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Russia confirmed Friday it had blocked the
UN's nuclear watchdog from accessing parts of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia power
plant, but said it was for safety reasons.

Officials from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have been on the
ground monitoring the plant since September 2022, six months after it was
captured by Moscow's forces.

Responding to an IAEA statement saying their team had been blocked from
reactor halls, Renat Karchaa, an official at Russia's Rosatom, alleged they
tried to access "containment shells".

"A containment shell, and especially a sealed one, is not a museum or an area
for free walks," Karchaa told Russia's RBC news outlet.

"While in 'sealed' mode, personnel access to the containment shells is
prohibited and is only permitted with unambiguous justification and in
emergency cases," he added.

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi had said in a statement Wednesday that experts had
not been allowed to access reactor halls in three of the plant's units for
two weeks.

He said the IAEA would continue to request access to the reactor halls, where
the reactor core and spent fuel are located.

"The content of the latest statement gives us reason to assume that either
Rafael Grossi was not informed fully enough, or the information was submitted
by people with low professional training, which is hard to believe," Karchaa
said.

The plant stopped supplying electricity to Ukraine's grid in September 2022,
and has been repeatedly rocked by shelling and drone attacks throughout the
conflict.