Ukraine’s Rivne nuclear power plant had to temporarily reduce its power output Wednesday, amid heightened military activity near all of Ukraine’s nuclear power plant sites in recent days, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said today.

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As part of their ongoing efforts to assess and report on nuclear safety and security, IAEA staff stationed at Ukraine's operating nuclear power plants (NPPs)—Khmelnytskyy, Rivne and South Ukraine NPPs—as well as the Zaporizhzhia NPP (ZNPP) and the Chornobyl site—have reported significant military activity in recent days.

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The Rivne NPP reduced the power of one unit Wednesday morning at the request of the grid operator, as a precautionary step due to an air attack. Later in the morning, the affected unit returned to nominal full capacity.

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At the ZNPP, where the general situation remains precarious on the frontline of the conflict, the IAEA team reported multiple explosions occurring each day, including some at both near and medium distances from the plant.

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In Chornobyl, the IAEA team was informed that drones have been spotted flying over the exclusion zone for the past two months. On 14 January, at least two drones flew close to the industrial area of the site. The team also reported hearing gunfire in the vicinity.

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The team at Khmelnytskyy NPP was forced to shelter at their residence on 15 January due to air raid alarms. The team at the South Ukraine NPP was informed about recent drone sightings as close as 5 kilometres from the site.

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"These ongoing threats continue to jeopardize the nuclear safety and security of nuclear power plants," said IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi. "Our presence is crucial to monitoring and reporting on such activities. No one stands to gain from attacks on nuclear facilities, and indifference to these dangers is not an option."

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As the IAEA continues to analyse observations and information gathered during its recent missions to Ukraine's electrical substations following attacks on the nation’s energy infrastructure, challenges with external power supplies persist at the ZNPP. The plant's last remaining 330-kilovolt (kV) power line was disconnected for several hours on 12 January for maintenance. Meanwhile, the IAEA team was informed that repairs to the voltage stabilizer for the ZNPP’s 750-kV power line—previously disconnected due to the activation of a protection mechanism—were completed, and it was successfully reconnected on 31 December.

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Additionally, the IAEA Support and Assistance Mission to ZNPP (ISAMZ) team was informed about the maintenance of several of the reactor safety systems.  Maintenance activities were carried out on safety trains in unit 2 and unit 6, and work has commenced on a safety train in unit 4 and on one of the emergency diesel generators (EDGs) that are designed to provide on-site power, in case of a total loss of off-site power.

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Despite the challenges from nearby ongoing military activity, the IAEA team has continued to conduct regular walkdowns across the ZNPP site over the past week. They visited the main control room of each unit and made note of staffing levels, checked fuel levels in the EDGs at unit 6, and witnessed the change of the spent fuel pool cooling pump from one safety train to another in unit 6. Furthermore, the team visited the cooling pond area, including in the vicinity of both cooling towers – one of which sustained damage in August 2024 – an area where the team was previously denied access. ISAMZ also performed a walkdown of the turbine hall of unit 2 and was once again denied access to the western part of the hall. The team also visited the temporary on-site emergency crisis centre, where they discussed the draft emergency preparedness and response plan, as well as the planned emergency response exercise to be held in 2025.

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Separately, the IAEA continues to deliver on its comprehensive assistance programme to support nuclear safety and security in Ukraine. On 2 January, the Agency marked its 100th delivery of equipment and supplies with a delivery of an individual monitoring system to the state operator Energoatom. Moreover, in the past three weeks, 11 additional deliveries were made to nine different organizations in Ukraine comprising of radiation protection- and nuclear security-related equipment, diesel generators, IT equipment, as well as medical equipment and supplies. The funding for these deliveries was provided by the Czech Republic, Denmark, Italy, Norway and the United Kingdom. With these deliveries, over €15 million worth of equipment and supplies reached Ukraine since the start of the armed conflict.

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Text Courtesy, IAEA