Going Nuclear Without Blowing Up

"In September, 2022, Rafael Mariano Grossi, an elegant Argentinean diplomat with tousled salt-and-pepper hair, led a convoy of nuclear experts toward the sprawling Zaporizhzhia power plant, in southeast Ukraine, which had been seized by Russia in the early days of its invasion. It is the largest nuclear facility in Europe and the first ever to be on the front line of a war. The dangers of a radioactive catastrophe were unprecedented. Explosions near the site had already damaged a high-voltage power line; Ukraine feared the failure of cooling systems that prevent nuclear fuel from melting down."

"Neither Ukraine nor Russia had promised full access to Grossi, the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. watchdog that has a mandate to secure nuclear plants and report whether their materials are diverted to make bombs. Grossi had to argue his way through Ukrainian checkpoints that refused passage. Then, in the no man's land between the Ukrainian and Russian militaries, his team—wearing blue helmets and bulletproof vests marked "United Nations"—came under fire. He had to make a snap decision, without knowing which side was shooting. 'I asked the security people, "What is the worst that can happen to us?"' He didn't want his experts to be trapped or killed, but the mission would establish a right for the I.A.E.A. to access nuclear facilities in any future conflict."

Rafael Grossi led a convoy to the Zaporizhzhia power plant in September 2022 while the site was under Russian control, confronting unprecedented risks of radioactive catastrophe. Explosions had damaged critical infrastructure and threatened cooling systems that protect nuclear fuel from melting down. Access was not guaranteed by either side, and the team encountered hostile fire in the no man’s land between forces. Grossi made rapid safety decisions to protect his experts while asserting IAEA rights of inspection. Global nuclear capacity includes roughly 400 operating plants, with dozens more under construction or planned amid rising energy demand.

Read at The New Yorker