UN atomic watchdog chief returns to Ukraine nuclear plant

By ELENA BECATOROS
Associated Press

DNIPRO, Ukraine (AP) — The head of the U.N.’s atomic energy watchdog has returned to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine. International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi crossed the war’s front lines for a second time to reach the Russian-occupied plant. Grossi told The Associated Press in an interview on Tuesday that he thinks a deal to protect Europe’s largest nuclear power facility from a catastrophic accident due to the war was close. He met Monday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and said he would “most probably” head to Moscow in the coming days. Zelenskyy told the AP he was less optimistic a deal to safeguard the plant was near.