The IAEA daily records hostile drones near Ukrainian NPPs
3 February 2025 08:49
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi will arrive in Ukraine this week to assess the situation at Ukrainian nuclear power plants and talk to the Ukrainian authorities together with his colleagues working in Ukraine. This was reported by the IAEA, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
This will be the 11th visit to Ukraine in almost three years since the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which is being carried out under the personal supervision of the agency’s Director General.
“As long as this terrible war continues, the IAEA will remain present and active, focused on doing everything possible to maintain nuclear safety in extremely difficult circumstances. As the overall situation is still fragile and volatile, our work there remains essential,” said Director General Grossi before his visit to the Ukrainian capital on February 4.
The IAEA’s 36th mission has already started work in Ukraine
The IAEA teams in Khmelnytsky, Rivne, Yuzhnoukrainsk and Chernobyl changed last week. They will continue to monitor nuclear and radiation safety at Ukrainian nuclear power plants in the face of Russian aggression.
The rotation of IAEA experts at Zaporizhzhya NPP will take place this week.
Over the past week, the IAEA teams present at Ukrainian nuclear power plants continued to report on the ongoing military risks faced by nuclear facilities.
For example, at the Zaporizhzhia NPP, the IAEA team hears explosions outside the plant every day. The mission’s experts emphasize the ongoing problems associated with ensuring external power supply through a single power line. Last week, this line was disconnected due to the activation of the protection system.
The IAEA teams at other Ukrainian NPPs and at the Chornobyl site have been recording air threats on a daily basis, with Russian drones detected at various distances from the facilities.
The task of the IAEA’s 36th mission was defined by its head as follows: “to verify that the IAEA’s seven core principles of nuclear safety and security are being met at nuclear power plant sites”.
