Grossi warns Ukraine grid strikes threaten nuclear safety as winter closes in

Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, voiced fresh concern Saturday for Ukraine's electrical grid and the nuclear plants that depend on it, with military activity still raging around the country. He said the dangers are compounding as the weather turns. In his words, the concerns are only further exacerbated as temperatures keep dropping and winter takes hold.

Grossi called for a total stop to strikes on electrical facilities, warning that the grid's swings are already hitting nuclear operations. Several units at Ukrainian nuclear power plants have had their power reduced because of the fluctuating supply, he said. He also confirmed that one worker died in a recent strike on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

The IAEA chief pressed both sides in the war to cooperate with the agency, urging them to work together on what he described as mutually beneficial solutions. He did not say when or how such cooperation might happen.