What would happen if they attack the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant?
2:52
(CNN) --
Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) are expected to go to the Russian-controlled power plant in Zaporizhia "within the next few days" amid new bombings in Russia. the facility and growing fears about a possible nuclear accident.
The head of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi, "said that he was continuing his consultations with all parties with the aim of sending an expert mission to the #ZNPP (Zaporijia nuclear plant, in Spanish) in the coming days to help guarantee the nuclear safety there," the United Nations nuclear watchdog tweeted Sunday.
Zaporizhia authorities hand out potassium iodide pills to residents as fears of nuclear accident grow
Grossi himself is a member of the team participating in the expert mission, according to a New York Times report.
The newspaper says it saw Grossi on a list of names, which also included "13 other experts from mostly neutral countries."
“Neither the United States nor Britain are represented, countries that Russia despises as unfairly biased because of their strong support for Ukraine,” the Times reported.
When CNN contacted the IAEA on Sunday about the composition of the expert mission, the nuclear watchdog declined to comment, saying it would not make such information public and that "all IAEA missions have members from different member states, selected on the basis of their relevant experience. They are international civil servants representing the IAEA, not their countries."
advertising
Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi delivers a speech during a United Nations Security Council meeting on the Russian invasion of Ukraine at the UN headquarters in New York City on August 11.
The IAEA announcement comes as both the Russian Defense Ministry and Ukraine's nuclear operator Energoatom reported on Saturday that the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant site was repeatedly bombed over the past 24 hours, blaming each other for the bombing.
Energoatom said on Friday that the plant had been reconnected to Ukraine's power grid a day after the facility went offline for the first time in its history.
After the historic disconnection, the Zaporizhia nuclear plant reconnects to the electricity grid
Zaporizhia city authorities have also made iodide pills available to residents as concerns about a possible nuclear accident grow.
Earlier on Sunday, Energoatom said on Telegram that based on Monday's wind forecast, if a severe nuclear accident were to occur, the radiation cloud "will cover part of southern Ukraine and southwestern regions of Russia."
In a tweet on Sunday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called on Russian forces to leave the facility.
“For decades, nuclear security has been Ukraine's top priority, especially given our tragic past.
The Russian invaders turned the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant into a military base, putting the entire continent at risk.
The Russian military must leave the plant, they have no business there," he wrote.
A view shows the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant on the outskirts of the Russian-controlled city of Enerhodar in Ukraine's Zaporizhia region on August 22.
Also on Sunday, the Russian Defense Ministry again blamed Ukraine for continuing "provocations to create the threat of a man-made nuclear disaster" at the Zaporizhia power plant.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Sunday described Ukraine's actions around the plant as "nuclear terrorism."
She added that Russia believes the IAEA inspection of the power plant will take place and that Russia was not "persuaded" to allow the inspection.
Video shows Russian vehicles at nuclear plant in Ukraine 0:51
Russian attacks have been ongoing in the wider Zaporizhia region.
On Sunday, Oleksandr Starukh, head of the civil military administration of the Zaporizhia region, reported that Russian shelling in Zaporizhia's Tavriyske village destroyed 15 houses.
Starukh also said that a day earlier police received reports of shelling of a four-story residential building in Kamianka village in Pology district of Zaporizhia oblast, killing four civilians, including two minors.
The Russian Defense Ministry said on Sunday that it hit the Motor Sich plant in Zaporizhia, where Ukrainian military helicopters are repaired.
Ukrainian officials have not commented on this claim and Ukraine does not comment on military losses.
CNN cannot independently verify this claim.
Nuclear energyWar in UkraineUN
