Rafael Grossi Calls The IAEA Will Underlie Security And Safety Missions At The Ukrainian Nuclear Power Plant

Rafael Grossi while leading the IAEA team visit to PLTN Zaporizhia. (Wikimedia Commons/IAEA Imagebank)

JAKARTA - Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi discussed the formation of a security zone at Ukraine's Nuclear Power Plant (PLTN), at a meeting with Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.

"We agreed to deploy the IAEA safety and security mission at all Ukrainian nuclear power plants. The work on establishing the Zaporizhzhia PLTN protection zone continues," Grossi wrote on Twitter on Tuesday.

The IAEA mission led by Grossi visited PLTN Zaporizhia in early September. After the delegation left the location, the agency's staff remained there as observers.

Later, the IAEA published a report calling for the establishment of a safe zone around the plant to prevent a state of emergency due to hostilities.

While citing the IAEA website, nuclear safety and security missions at the Khmelnytskyy Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) and the Ukraine Rivne this week, as part of ongoing and intensive activities to help prevent the danger of nuclear accidents during the current armed conflict the IAEA has been permanently present in the country's largest PLTN, Zaporizhia, since early September.

"The situation at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant remains precarious, fragile and potentially dangerous. We are doing everything we can to prevent nuclear accidents there, especially with our proposal to establish a nuclear safety and security protection zone around the facility," Grossi explained.

"We are making progress in our consultation with Ukraine and Russia and I hope that the zone will soon be approved and implemented. This is urgently needed."

"However, at the same time, it is very important for us not to forget other Ukrainian nuclear power plants. They may not be directly at the forefront of Zaporizhzhia, but they are in a warring country and the potential risk of nuclear safety and security is very clear. In recent weeks, our experts have been doing work aimed at reducing such risks, and this will continue as long as necessary," he said.

This week's expert mission assesses the nuclear safety and security situation at both plants and identifies their future equipment and other needs for follow-up by the IAEA.

Excellent meeting w/ #Ukraine 🇺🇦 PM @Denys_Shmyhal ahead of the conference Solidaires du peuple ukranien. We agreed to deploy IAEA safety & security missions in all of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants. Work on the establishment of the #Zaporizhzhya NPP protection zone continues. pic.twitter.com/pXjhWk4cfz

— Rafael MarianoGrossi (@rafaelmgrossi) December 12, 2022