KYIV, Ukraine — A team from the U.N. nuclear agency has arrived at the site of Europe's largest nuclear plant to inspect security conditions, the agency and Ukraine's nuclear energy operator said Thursday, amid fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces that prompted the shutdown of one reactor.
Enerhoatom said the International Atomic Energy Agency team, which is being led by director Rafael Grossi, arrived at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant that has been in the thick of recent fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces more than six months after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to invade Ukraine.
The company said earlier Thursday that Russian mortar shelling had led to the shutdown of one of its reactors by its emergency protection system and had damaged a backup power supply line used for in-house needs. One of the plant's reactors that wasn't operating was switched to diesel generators, Enerhoatom said.
Ukraine and Russia trade blame for heavy shelling that had temporarily delayed the team's movements toward the sprawling plant on the left bank of Dnieper River in an area controlled by Russian forces. The fighting underscored the risks faced by the team of U.N. inspectors that was hoping to assess the safety of the plant.
“There has been increased military activity, including this morning until very recently,” Grossi said, adding that after being briefed by the Ukrainian military he…
