Zaporozhye NPP unaffected by blackout - Grossi

MOSCOW. June 4 (Interfax) - A large-scale power outage in Russia's Zaporozhye region has had no effect on the Russia-controlled Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi said.

Grossi said at a press briefing in Kiev on Tuesday evening that an IAEA team was present at the Zaporozhye NPP and he could confirm that the blackout did no harm to the plant. The plant is not working, so there are no safety problems, he said. Energodar, a city located near the plant, had a major power outage, whereas no disruptions occurred in power supply to the plant, he said.

As reported earlier, a major power outage occurred in some areas of Russia's Zaporozhye and Kherson regions due to the damage done by crashed Ukrainian drones to local energy infrastructure.

Grossi also said he was hoping to visit the Zaporozhye NPP shortly. He said he would like to go there as soon as possible.

The IAEA presence at the Zaporozhye NPP is important, Grossi said. He said it was crucial to have IAEA teams there and added that the mission was ongoing.

Grossi is due to visit Russia and meet with Rosatom head Alexei Likhachev by the end of this week. "We are expecting the meeting to take place in the end of the week. Most likely, in Kaliningrad," Likhachev told the press in Nizhny Novgorod on Tuesday.