IAEA Chief Warns of Risk of Accident at Russian Nuclear Plant

Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) warned of the risk of a nuclear accident after visiting Russia's Kursk nuclear power plant, stressing that the "situation was serious." "The danger or possibility of a nuclear accident has emerged near here," Grossi told reporters, referring to the fact that fighting is taking place in the surrounding Kursk region. Grossi said the RBMK-type facility the same model as the Chornobyl plant in Ukraine, which witnessed the world's worst civilian nuclear disaster in 1986 lacks the containment dome and protective structure that is typical of modern nuclear power plants. "This means that the core of the reactor containing nuclear material is protected just by a normal roof. This makes it extremely exposed and fragile, for example, to an artillery impact or a drone or a missile," he said. Source: Oman News Agency