IAEA chief warns of risk of nuclear accident at Russian plant in Kursk region

KURCHATOV, Russia (Reuters) -U.N. nuclear agency chief Rafael Grossi said after visiting Russia's Kursk nuclear power plant on Tuesday that there was a risk of a nuclear accident and the situation was serious.

"The danger or possibility of a nuclear accident has emerged near here," Grossi told reporters, referring to the fact that fighting is taking place in the surrounding Kursk region.

Russia says the plant has been repeatedly attacked by Ukrainian forces that are just 40 km (25 miles) away after carving out a slice of Russian territory this month. Ukraine has yet to respond to the accusations.

Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told a news conference that the plant was extremely fragile because it had no protective dome.

He said the site was currently still operating very close to normal conditions, but this meant that the situation regarding its security was even more serious.

Russian state nuclear company Rosenergoatom said Grossi had been able to satisfy himself that the plant's Number Three reactor was working at planned capacity, while its fourth reactor has been undergoing scheduled maintenance since Sunday. He was also shown a new reactor block that is under construction, it said.

(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Lucy Papachristou and Mark Trevelyan; Editing by Kevin Liffey)