Ukraine’s nuclear company Energoatom has criticised an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) plan to send a delegation to a Russian-occupied nuclear plant in southern Ukraine, saying it “did not invite” such a visit.

“We consider this message from the head of the IAEA as another attempt to get to the (power plant) by any means in order to legitimise the presence of occupiers there and essentially condone all their actions,” Energoatom wrote on Telegram.

On Friday, director-general of IAEA, Rafael Grossi, proposed to head the expert visit to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (NPP) “as soon as possible.”

The agency tweeted that the necessary consultations were underway after Ukraine was informed about the “difficult conditions” under which Ukrainian specialists are working in the NPP.

The decision came after Mr Grossi announced on Thursday that he would meet the Russian representatives to discuss a visit to Zaporizhzhia in the coming days.

“Ukraine formally informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) today about the situation at the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), which is controlled by Russian forces but still operated by its Ukrainian staff,” Mr Grossi said in a statement released by the apex nuclear power plant monitoring agency.

Citing Ukrainian authorities, the agency also flagged that Rosenergoatom – a unit of Russian state nuclear company Rosatom – had sent a group of eight nuclear specialists to the Zaporizhzhya NPP.

The Russian experts reportedly demanded daily reports from plant management about “confidential issues” on the functioning of the NPP.

(Reuters/NAN)