The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency will travel to Ukraine next week to regularly train security experts at all of the country’s nuclear power plants.
“Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi will be in Ukraine next week to establish the presence of nuclear safety and security experts in all the country’s nuclear power plants, to improve efforts by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to prevent nuclear explosions. accidents during the current military conflict,” according to the statement of the nuclear agency of the United Nations.
While the IAEA already has team members at the site of the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, experts will also be stationed at the Khmelnitsky nuclear power plant in western Ukraine on “day to come”. The IAEA said Grossi would travel to Southern Ukraine and Rivne — and to the Chernobyl site — to set up a mission of two IAEA members at each site.
Grossi will also meet with senior Ukrainian government officials in Kyiv to discuss the creation of a so-called nuclear safety and security zone around Zaporizhzhia. Kyiv accused Kyiv of using the plant as cover for the attack, knowing that Ukraine could not retaliate without risking hitting one of the plant’s six reactors. At the same time, Moscow said that the site was targeted by the Ukrainian army.
“I remain determined to make the essential safety zone work as quickly as possible. Negotiations with Ukraine and Russia are progressing, although not as quickly as they should be. I hope that we will be able to accept and implement the area soon,” said Grossi.
According to the statement, the remaining 330 kilovolt power supply line of the Zaporizhzhia plant has been restored to the plant, after the disconnection last week.
“Grossi also reiterated his serious concerns about the pressures faced by ZNPP workers, which could affect nuclear safety and security,” the statement said.
“The reduction of ZNPP personnel together with the psychological stress due to the ongoing military conflict and the absence of family members who have fled the area have created an unprecedented situation that should not be endured NPP workers,” he said.
