The UN atomic watchdog has started its inspections of two nuclear sites in Ukraine being carried out at Kyiv's request to address Russian claims that it is working on a so-called 'dirty bomb', the watchdog's chief Rafael Grossi said on Monday, Reuters reported.
"Director General Grossi said IAEA inspectors had begun – and would soon complete – verification activities at (the) two locations in Ukraine," the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a statement, adding that Grossi would "later this week provide his initial conclusions" about the inspections.
Russian media quoted Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov — the head of Russia's nuclear, biological and chemical protection troops — as telling a briefing, "According to the information we have, two organizations in Ukraine are under concrete instructions to create a so-called dirty bomb."
Russia's state news agency, RIA, had earlier identified what it said were the two sites involved in the operation: the Eastern Mineral Enrichment Plant in the central Dnipropetrovsk region and the Institute for Nuclear Research in Kyiv.
RHM/PR
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