Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi will travel to Ukraine next week for high-level meetings in Kyiv, in which the ongoing efforts of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to help prevent a nuclear accident during the military conflict will be discussed.

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It will be the 11th mission to Ukraine led personally by the Director General since the conflict began almost three years ago, demonstrating the IAEA’s unwavering commitment to assist Ukraine in ensuring nuclear safety and security.

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“As long as this horrific war continues, the IAEA will remain present and stay active, focused on doing everything we can to support nuclear safety and security in extremely challenging circumstances. As the overall situation is still precarious and fragile, our work there remains essential,” Director General Grossi said ahead of the visit to the Ukrainian capital on 4 February.

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Over the past week, the IAEA teams present at Ukraine’s nuclear power plants (NPPs) have continued to report on the persistent risks the facilities are facing, with numerous indications of military activity near the sites.

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At the Zaporizhzhya NPP (ZNPP), the IAEA team heard explosions daily coming from outside the plant, including multiple explosions at a near distance this morning. There was no damage reported to the plant itself.

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Highlighting persistent challenges related to the availability of off-site power, the ZNPP’s sole remaining 750 kilovolt (kV) power line was disconnected on Wednesday due to the activation of a protection system, once again leaving the site dependent on its only remaining 330 kV back-up power line for the electricity it needs for reactor cooling and other essential nuclear safety functions.

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The IAEA team has continued to conduct walkdowns across the ZNPP, including at the 750 kV open switchyard for the first time since late last year. The team members confirmed that maintenance on the voltage stabilizers had been completed and discussed future maintenance work with the ZNPP.

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Last Friday, the team observed condensation – water drops on the floor and walls – within the containment building of reactor unit 5. The ZNPP confirmed it was aware of this issue, and the IAEA  team will look further into this in the coming days. The team assessed that the safety system rooms were in good order.

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The IAEA teams at the other NPPs in Ukraine and the Chornobyl site have continued to report air raid alarms every day. At Khmelnytskyy, South Ukraine and Chornobyl, the teams were informed that drones had been detected at various distances from the sites. At the Khmelnytskyy NPP, the team had to shelter at the site on Tuesday morning.

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At the South Ukraine NPP, the team was informed that one of the plant’s two 750 kV lines was disconnected on Wednesday morning due to unspecified military activities. As a result, one of its three reactors temporarily decreased power output before later the same day returning to nominal power.

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The IAEA teams at Khmelnytskyy, Rivne, South Ukraine and Chornobyl all rotated over the past week. The team at the ZNPP will rotate next week.

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Text Courtesy, IAEA