The head of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi, who arrived in Ukraine the day before, is visiting Yuzhnoukrainsk NPP in Pervomaisk (Mykolaiv region) on Wednesday.
“I’m at South Ukraine Yuzhnoukrainsk Nuclear Power Plant to meet Ukrainian gov’t officials and staff, and start IAEA technical assistance for safety and security of country’s nuclear facilities. Vital to be on the ground to provide effective support to Ukraine in these extremely difficult times,” he wrote on Twitter.
He said that he personally thanked the Yuzhnoukrainsk Nuclear Power Plant staff for their endurance and resilience during these extremely difficult times. He added that IAEA’s on-site presence will help prevent the danger of a nuclear accident that could have severe public health and environmental consequences in Ukraine and beyond.
“Staff of all Ukrainian nuclear facilities deserve full respect and admiration for keeping sites running in a safe and secure way amid conflict,” Grossi said
Power supply has been restored to the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) site after repeated damage from hostilities, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said.
“Ukraine has informed the IAEA that external power had again today been restored to the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant after line had been again damaged by the occupying forces,” the IAEA said in a tweet on the night of Monday to Tuesday.
Other details are not reported.
The IAEA website notes that the “regulatory authority” informed the agency about the resumption of power supply to the Chornobyl nuclear power plant on the afternoon of March 14.
“The regulatory authority told the IAEA that at 13:10 CET external power had again been restored and that staff at the Chornobyl NPP had restarted operations to reconnect the NPP to the grid,” the agency said.
The city council of Slavutych, a satellite city of the Chornobyl nuclear power plant, on its Facebook late on Monday evening announced that the city’s power supply had been resumed and the connection of residential buildings would be carried out gradually.
As reported with reference to NPC Ukrenergo, on March 14, Russian invaders again damaged the high-voltage line supplying power to the Chornobyl nuclear power plant and Slavutych, after the company had repaired it.
The NPP site and Slavutych were de-energized on March 9 due to shelling of energy infrastructure by Russian troops.
Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) currently have the ability to monitor the situation at nuclear facilities on the territory of Ukraine, the organization’s director general Rafael Grossi said on Wednesday.
“Remotely controlled equipment is functioning normally,” he said at a briefing in Vienna.
“We are able to continue security control activities,” Grossi added.
He noted that he expects that in the future it will be possible to send IAEA inspectors directly to facilities in Ukraine.
“I am in contact with all parties. We need to understand how we can provide support,” Grossi said.
He noted that he was “inspired by the willingness of the parties to interact.”
Speaking about whether the events in Ukraine pose a threat to nuclear facilities, the head of the IAEA said: “I proceed from the fact that there will be no such strikes.”
Grossi explained that all countries had previously assured that they considered attacks on nuclear facilities unacceptable.
