UN atomic watchdog's director to visit Moscow for talks on nuclear safety

VIENNA

The director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Monday that he will travel to Russia to hold high-level consultations as part of his ongoing efforts to ensure nuclear safety and security in the region.

Rafael Grossi's remarks came during the agency's board of governors meeting in Vienna, where he discussed various issues including "current challenges" facing the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.

The plant, the biggest in Europe and among the 10 largest in the world, has been under Russian control since early 2022.

Grossi, who visited the site last month, reiterated his call for "maximum restraint and strict observance” of UN-agreed safety principles at the plant.

Grossi also spoke about unresolved safeguards issues with Iran, saying he "hopes to be able to continue this dialogue here or in Tehran or wherever we can because my reports are very clear in this regard: we are not in the place I would like us to be.”

"Problems will not disappear. They will only get worse. So we need to address this in a serious way," he added.

Drawing attention to the upcoming Nuclear Energy Summit, the first of its kind, which will be hosted jointly by the IAEA and the government of Belgium, Grossi said it will be an "excellent opportunity" to discuss the place of nuclear energy in the current energy debates.

The summit will take place on March 21 in Brussels.

Asked by Anadolu about the situation of Israel's uncontrolled nuclear activities and uncontrolled nuclear weapons in the Middle East, he reiterated that "loose talk" about nuclear weapons is unacceptable.

In an interview in early November, Israel's Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu said that "one of Israel’s options in the war in Gaza is to drop a nuclear bomb on the Strip."