IAEA head warns of ‘dire consequences’ of strikes on energy infrastructure
International Atomic Energy Agency director-general Rafael Grossi has sounded the alarm about the continued risk of nuclear accidents as a result of Russia’s attacks on Ukraine’s power grid while saying the agency “stands ready” to support Kyiv’s plans to expand the Khmelnitski nuclear power station.
Grossi arrived in the Ukrainian capital on 4 February and once again warned of dire consequences not just from direct hits on nuclear power plants, but from strikes on substations and other infrastructure that can cause disruptions to the overall energy system.
“I’m at Kyivska electrical substation – an important part of Ukraine’s power grid essential for nuclear safety,” Grossi wrote on X, after inspecting an electricity distribution substation.
“A nuclear accident can result from a direct attack on a plant, but also from power supply disruption.”
After the substation visit Grossi met Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. After the meeting he said on social media that the IAEA remains fully committed to nuclear safety and security in Ukraine and is willing to support Kyiv’s plans to build new nuclear plants at Khmelnitski.
Moscow has bombarded Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, including substations, throughout its three-year invasion, although it has avoided direct strikes on nuclear stations.
Grossi said he would visit Russia later this week to discuss the situation in Ukraine and the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station.
Russia captured Zaporizhzhia, Europe’s biggest nuclear power station, soon after its forces went into Ukraine in February 2022.
Three years of Russian strikes on its power grid have left Ukraine reliant on nuclear power for more than half of its electricity generation. That nuclear power is generated by three functioning stations – Khmelnitski, Rivne and South Ukraine.
Ukraine’s state nuclear company Energoatom is planning to complete Units 3 and 4 at Khmelnitski, in western Ukraine, construction of which is suspended.
The plan is to buy reactor equipment that was produced by Russia for the abandoned Belene nuclear power station project in Bulgaria.
Construction of two VVER-1000 units at Khmelnitski-3 and -4 was abandoned in 1990 in the aftermath of the 1986 Chernobyl accident in Soviet Ukraine and because of financial shortages.
According to Energoatom, Khmelnitski-3 is around 75% complete and Khmelnitski-4 about 28%.
There are already two Russia-supplied VVER plants at the site that began operation in 1988 and 2005.
