Last month's drone attack on the UAE's Barakah nuclear power plant was potentially more dangerous than the situation at Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia facility because the reactors were operating at the time, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi said.
Speaking to Euronews after visiting the plant in the western part of the Gulf country, the head of the IAEA described the attack as an "extremely serious and irresponsible act" and warned of the risks posed by targeting civilian nuclear infrastructure.
"A nuclear power plant, apart from being a very important part of the energy infrastructure of a country, is a place where you have thousands, tonnes of kilograms of nuclear material which could trigger a radiological accident with very, very serious consequences," Grossi said.
Grossi said the incident could be compared to the situation at Zaporizhzhia, Europe's largest nuclear power plant, with one major difference.
"Although it's a very serious situation, the IAEA is working there, and it's a very delicate problem in our hands, the reactors are in what we call a 'shutdown'," Grossi explained.
