The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has delivered a new ambulance and other medical equipment to help Ukraine provide adequate health care for the personnel operating its nuclear power plants (NPPs) in challenging conditions during the military conflict, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said today.
The ambulance was handed over to the Emergency Technical Center of the national nuclear energy company Energoatom last Friday, during a 12-day IAEA mission to review the medical capacities of Ukraine’s three operating NPPs, the Chornobyl site as well as nearby hospitals and health facilities that provide critical medical support and care to plant staff.
“Nuclear safety and security require a well-functioning workforce that has timely access to medical services, including mental health support. The personnel of these facilities have been working in extremely difficult circumstances for more than three years now, enabling the continued safe production of much-needed electricity. Their physical and psychological well-being is of paramount importance for nuclear safety and security,” Director General Grossi said.
In addition to the new ambulance – the third such vehicle provided by the IAEA to Ukraine – an ultrasound system was delivered to a specialised health care facility in the city of Netishyn, located close to the Khmelnytskyy NPP.
During the recent mission to Ukraine, IAEA medical and procurement experts discussed the impact of assistance delivered so far under its Medical Assistance Programme for Operating Personnel at NPPs in Ukraine as well as future needs with medical personnel and psychologists, both at the NPPs’ own health care units and nearby hospitals. The IAEA team also visited the National Research Centre for Radiation Medicine (NRCRM).
“It was a very important mission to obtain a better understanding of the many challenges and difficulties these medical professionals face daily in carrying out their extremely important work. Based on the team’s findings, we will be able to direct our medical support to where it is most needed,” Director General Grossi said.
Over the past week, the IAEA has also continued to provide other technical support and assistance to Ukraine to help maintain nuclear safety and security, with 120 deliveries since the start of the armed conflict valued at a total of 16 million euros.
Last week, the Kherson Regional Clinical Hospital received ultrasound and radiographic equipment. It was part of an IAEA initiative to support – through the delivery of equipment using nuclear or isotopic-based techniques – the areas severely affected by the destruction of the Kakhovka dam in 2023. More deliveries are planned in the coming months.
Separately, State Enterprise USIE Izotop – involved in the management of radioactive material intended for medical, industrial and other purposes – received vehicles to support their daily field activities in nuclear and radiation safety and security.
The recent deliveries of equipment were supported by Canada, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea and Malta.
Despite such assistance, the general nuclear safety and security situation in Ukraine remains precarious, based on the assessments of the IAEA teams continuously deployed at all the NPP sites.
At the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), the IAEA team reported hearing military activities at varying distances away from the site. The team continued to monitor nuclear safety and security, conducting a walkdown of the reactor buildings of units 1, 3 and 5 and of the turbine halls of units 1 and 2.
Elsewhere, the IAEA teams based at the Khmelnytskyy, Rivne and South Ukraine NPPs as well as the Chornobyl site reported hearing air raid alarms over the past week. At Chornobyl, the team also heard a loud explosion and a drone in the evening of 30 March.
Over the past week, the IAEA teams at the Rivne, South Ukraine and Chornobyl sites rotated, with newly-arrived staff replacing their colleagues who have been monitoring nuclear safety and security there for the past several weeks.