VIENNA: International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi said Monday he was on his way to Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, which has been the target of strikes in recent weeks.
“The day has come, IAEA’s Support and Assistance Mission to Zaporizhzhya is now on its way,” Grossi tweeted, saying the team from the UN atomic watchdog would arrive at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant “later this week.”
In a photograph accompanying his tweet, the IAEA chief posed with a team of 13 people wearing caps and sleeveless jackets bearing the nuclear watchdog’s logo.
Grossi has for months been asking to be able to visit the site, warning of “the very real risk of a nuclear disaster.”
The Zaporizhzhia plant, which has six of Ukraine’s reactors, has been occupied by Russian troops since shortly after Moscow launched its invasion on February 24, and has remained on the frontlines ever since.
Moscow and Kyiv have traded blame for shelling around the complex, near the city of Energodar.
Its Ukraine operator Energoatom warned on Saturday of the risk of radioactive leaks and fire after new strikes.
The United Nations has called for an end to all military activity in the area surrounding the complex.
Ukraine initially feared an IAEA visit would legitimize the Russian occupation of the site before finally supporting the idea of a mission.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday urged the watchdog to send a team as soon as possible.
Between Thursday and Friday, the plant was cut off from Ukraine’s national power grid for the first time in its four-decade history due to “actions of the invaders,” Energoatom said.
It came back online Friday afternoon.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed that a team of independent inspectors could travel to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant via Ukraine, the French presidency said on August 20 after a call with Emmanuel Macron.
IAEA chief leading team to Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant
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IAEA chief leading team to Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant
- Its Ukraine operator Energoatom warned on Saturday of the risk of radioactive leaks and fire after new strikes
A total lunar eclipse will turn the moon blood red on Tuesday across several continents
- The eclipses tend to follow each other, taking advantage of the sweet spot in the celestial bodies’ orbits
NEW YORK: A blood-red moon will soon grace the skies for a total lunar eclipse — and there won’t be another until late 2028.
The spectacle will be visible Tuesday morning from North America, Central America and the western part of South America. Australia and eastern Asia can catch it Tuesday night. Partial stages of the eclipse with small bites taken out of the moon can be seen from Central Asia and much of South America. Africa and Europe will be shut out.
Solar and lunar eclipses happen due to a precise alignment of the sun, moon and Earth. There are between four and seven a year, according to NASA.
The eclipses tend to follow each other, taking advantage of the sweet spot in the celestial bodies’ orbits. Tuesday’s total eclipse of the moon comes two weeks after a ‘ring of fire’ solar eclipse that dazzled people and penguins in Antarctica.
During a total lunar eclipse, the Earth is between the sun and full moon, casting a shadow that covers the moon. The so-called blood moon looks red because of stray bits of sunlight filtering through Earth’s atmosphere.
The show unfolds over several hours, with totality lasting about an hour.
Compared to a solar eclipse, “the lunar eclipse is a little more of a relaxed pace,” said Catherine Miller at Middlebury College’s Mittelman Observatory.
For those in the path, there’s no need for any special equipment to observe — just a clear, cloudless view of the sky.
Use a forecasting app or any online celestial calendar to look up the exact timing for your area. Venture outside a few times to see Earth’s shadow darken the moon, eventually revealing the reddish-orange orb.
“You don’t have to be out there the whole time to see the shadows moving,” said astronomer Bennett Maruca with the University of Delaware.
There’s a partial lunar eclipse on the docket for August, visible across the Americas, Europe, Africa and west Asia.
