Facility is under Russian control and on frontline of conflict
The International Atomic Energy Agency has published a new report on its efforts to ensure nuclear safety and security during the conflict in Ukraine, with the agency’s director-general warning that the situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station remains “precarious and very fragile”.
The 28-page report highlights the challenges and achievements of the IAEA’s activities to protect Europe’s largest nuclear power station, which is on the frontline of fighting and has been under Russian control since soon after the February 2022 invasion.
During this time, IAEA teams at the site have reported on incidents including shelling and drone strikes at the facility, which has also suffered repeated loss of offsite power.
The report was issued as Grossi travelled this week to the facility in southern Ukraine for the fifth time during the conflict.
Since he last went to the Zaporizhzhia site in February, it has been hit by drone strikes, experienced loss of power lines and, last month, a fire caused significant damage to one of its two cooling towers.
Grossi said the IAEA’s “comprehensive assistance” to Ukraine has seen 59 deliveries of equipment needed to maintain nuclear safety and security, with a total value of over €10m ($11m).
In total, the IAEA has conducted 139 support and assistance missions to the nuclear sites in Ukraine.
The agency has also continued safeguards verification activities across Ukraine, ensuring that there is no diversion of nuclear material for military purposes.
Assistance programmes were established in the areas of health care and the nuclear safety and security of radioactive sources.
The agency also implemented programmes to support Ukraine in managing the impact of the flooding of the Kherson Oblast and other regions in the aftermath of the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam.
A few months after the establishment of the IAEA’s presence at Zaporizhzhia, Grossi set up similar missions at the four other nuclear facilities in Ukraine – the Khmelnitski, Rivne and South Ukraine nuclear power plants, and the shut-down Chernobyl site.
