The International Atomic Energy Agency issued a new report today on its efforts to ensure nuclear safety and security during the conflict in Ukraine, two years after Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi crossed the frontline to establish the IAEA’s presence at the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) site and help prevent a nuclear accident.
The 28-page report highlights the challenges and achievements of the IAEA’s activities to protect Europe’s largest nuclear power plant since Director General Grossi launched the historic mission on 1 September 2022. During this time, the IAEA teams at the site have reported on incidents including shelling and drone strikes at the facility, which has also suffered repeated loss of off-site power events.
Underlining the IAEA’s “unwavering support for nuclear safety, security and safeguards in Ukraine”, today’s report also provides information about the IAEA’s continued presence at Ukraine’s other nuclear sites, as well as details on its comprehensive programme of assistance to the country.
The situation at the ZNPP remains precarious and very fragile, Director General Grossi said in the report’s foreword.
“Two years into the IAEA’s continued presence at the occupied Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant, our commitment to helping prevent a nuclear accident remains resolute,” he said. “Amid the significant challenges and risks to nuclear safety and security, we are steadfast in our mission to assess the situation and keep the international community informed.”
The report was issued as Director General Grossi travelled this week to the plant in southern Ukraine for the fifth time during the conflict. Since he last went to the ZNPP site in February, it has been hit by drone strikes, experienced loss of power lines and, last month, a fire caused significant damage to one of its two cooling towers.
Director General Grossi said “the objective and impartial assessments of the situation provided by our teams have made a significant contribution to maintaining nuclear safety, security and safeguards” at the ZNPP.
A few months after the establishment of the IAEA presence at the ZNPP, Director General Grossi set up similar missions at the four other nuclear facilities in Ukraine – the Khmelnytskyy, Rivne and South Ukraine nuclear power plants, as well as the Chornobyl site.
The new report also summarizes developments, activities and assistance at these sites since the IAEA missions were set up there in early 2023.
“Our work at these facilities remains essential and I am immensely proud of the courageous work the teams continue to perform,” Director General Grossi said.
In total, the IAEA has conducted 139 Support and Assistance Missions to the nuclear sites in Ukraine. In addition, the IAEA’s comprehensive assistance to Ukraine has facilitated 61 deliveries of equipment to Ukraine, with a total value of over €10 million. The IAEA has also continued its vital safeguards verification activities across Ukraine, ensuring that there is no diversion of nuclear material for military purposes.
“As I conduct my fifth visit to the ZNPP, and my tenth to Ukraine since the beginning of the conflict, I want to reassure the international community that the IAEA, and I as Director General, will continue to do everything possible within our mandate to assist in averting a nuclear or radiological accident at any of Ukraine’s nuclear facilities,” Director General Grossi said.