IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi will visit several nuclear power plants in Ukraine next week.
“Grossi will be in Ukraine next week to establish a permanent presence of nuclear safety experts at all nuclear power facilities in the country,” the IAEA said in a statement.
“The director general will visit the Pivdeno-Ukrainian NPP, the Rivne NPP, and the Chernobyl NPP to launch missions, which will include two experts at each site,” the document stresses.
It is noted that two experts will also be deployed at the Khmelnytskyy nuclear power plant.
The IAEA reminds that the agency has already ensured the permanent presence of four experts at the Zaporizhzhia NPP, which is currently located in the territory occupied by the Russian aggressor.
“We must continue to do everything possible to prevent the risk of a serious nuclear accident,” Grossi said in a statement.
In addition, during his visit to Kiev, the director general will meet with senior representatives of the Ukrainian government and discuss proposals concerning the creation of a safety zone around the ZNPP.
Earlier, the head of the State Inspectorate for Nuclear Regulation (SNRIU, Gosatomregulirovanie), Oleg Korikov, said that an IAEA mission would soon arrive at all three nuclear power plants located in Ukrainian-controlled territory.
The IAEA will increase the number of its staff at Ukrainian nuclear power plants, the international organization’s director general Raphael Grossi said Tuesday.
“I have also confirmed that the IAEA will increase its presence at all nuclear power plants in Ukraine to ensure the protection of the energy infrastructure,” Grossi wrote on Twitter.
In addition, he said he met with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba.
“We will continue to work together to urgently create a nuclear safety zone around the Zaporizhzhya NPP,” Grossi added, posting a photo with Kuleba.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has launched negotiations on the creation of a nuclear safety zone at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant (NPP), head of the agency Rafael Grossi says.
“Kicked off IAEAGC week meeting with US Under Secretary for Arms Control Bonnie Jenkins. Urgent establishment of Nuclear Safety and Security Protection Zone at Zaporizhia NPP in focus. Work to keep Ukraine’s nuclear sites safe and secure remains priority and US support is highly appreciated,” he said on Twitter.
Earlier, the International Atomic Energy Agency published a report on the results of the mission to ZNPP. It said, in particular, about the need to “immediately take intermediate measures to avoid a nuclear incident that could occur due to hostilities.” “The issue can be resolved by immediately creating a safety zone,” the authors pointed out.
The IAEA expressed its readiness to immediately begin consultations on the urgent establishment of such a safety zone.
Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal says that the IAEA plans to extend its mission at Zaporizhia NPP.
“By its actions at Zaporizhia NPP, Russia has brought the whole of Europe to the brink of a nuclear catastrophe. The safety of our nuclear facilities is one of the key challenges for everyone in the world. We discussed this issue at the UN with the president of France, the prime ministers of Japan and New Zealand, the foreign ministers of Great Britain, Germany and India, with the leadership of the EU, as well as with the head of the IAEA, Mr. Grossi. Everyone understands the importance of the demilitarization of Zaporizhia NPP and the safe operation of the facility. As one of the steps in this direction, the IAEA plans to extend its mission at the station,” Shmyhal said.
According to him, the Ukrainian government is also working to organize international UN and EU missions to Zaporizhia nuclear power plant.
“Russia arranges provocations and shelling of ZNPP almost every day. They want to disconnect this largest nuclear power plant in Europe from the Ukrainian network and continue to use the station as a military base. Therefore, it is so important that Russian troops be withdrawn not only from Zaporizhia NPP, but also from Energodar. A 30-kilometer security zone should be created,” Shmyhal stressed.
Four out of six employees of the International Atomic Energy Agency, who remained at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant seized by Russian troops since September 1, have left it, Energoatom reported
“Today, four out of six representatives of the IAEA inspection team completed work at the Zaporozhye NPP and left its site,” the company said in a statement on Monday morning. According to him, two representatives will continue to work at the station on a permanent basis.
As reported, the head of the IAEA, Grossi, announced a permanent mission of the agency to the Zaporizhzhya NPP, consisting of two people from the beginning of this week.
The IAEA Director General announced the end of his “long-awaited” visit to the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) and the establishment of a permanent presence of the agency at the plant.
“I have just completed the first tour of the key locations we wanted to see in this first approach to the entire facility. Of course, there is still a lot to be done. My team remains, and most importantly, we establish our permanent presence from the IAEA here,” he said in a video from ZNPP posted on his Twitter.
Earlier, Energoatom, which includes Zaporizhia NPP, reported that as of 18:00 on Thursday, Grossi had left the station. Most of the members of the delegation left the station with him.
According to Energoatom, five representatives of the IAEA mission remained at the ZNPP, who are unloading the equipment they brought and will continue to work at the plant.
The IAEA mission arrived at the ZNPP captured by Russian troops on September 1, approximately after 14:00. According to the statements of the occupying authorities, the IAEA experts who left the station “should leave the territory controlled by the Russian Federation before 20:00.”
