Ukraine's state nuclear chief said on Monday it was vital that a mission by UN inspectors to the Zaporizhzhya nuclear plant led to the end of Russia's occupation of the facility and called for new missions to the site, including by UN peacekeepers, Reuters has reported.
In an interview, Petro Kotin, head of Ukraine's state nuclear company Energoatom, told Reuters that the establishment of a permanent mission was a "good" step but that the "root of the problem" remained as Russian troops controlled the site.
"We need results from this mission actually. These results should (resolve) the whole situation: de-occupation. If not, then we must have some kind of viable results," he said.
He called the situation at the plant "very dangerous" and unprecedented because of the deterioration of the power lines linking the facility to the Ukrainian grid, and said Kyiv expected to hear more than expressions of concern from the IAEA.
"This is a peculiar situation. All the experts and (IAEA chief Rafael) Grossi himself understand that ... what is needed to be done is the de-occupation. Still they can't directly propose this because of the limitation of the mandate," he said.
Kotin said it would be fraught for Ukraine if it has to get through this winter without the facility, which supplied more than a fifth of Ukraine's electricity needs before the war.
"If you don't have the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, this will be a dangerous winter. We need (it)," he said.