IAEA Mission in Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine
An IAEA Support and Assistance Mission to Zaporizhzhya (ISAMZ) is traveling to Ukraine to ensure nuclear safety and security at the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant.
We must protect the safety and security of Ukraine’s and Europe’s biggest nuclear facility, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said recently as he and a team of IAEA experts and inspectors set off from the Agency’s headquarters in Vienna for the IAEA Support and Assistance Mission to Zaporizhzhya (ISAMZ) in Ukraine. The IAEA mission will help ensure nuclear safety and security at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant and undertake vital safeguards activities.
It is those facts, gathered during a site visit, that are needed for the IAEA to be able to develop and provide an independent assessment of the nuclear safety and security risks. -IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi
Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant has been controlled by Russian forces following the Russian aggression in Ukraine since March 2022 but it is operated by its Ukrainian staff. This month the site has come under repeated shelling, and last week temporarily lost connection to its last remaining operational 750 kilovolt (kV) external power line.
IAEA noted that, in the most recent update from the power plant over the weekend, Ukraine informed the IAEA that the site had come under renewed shelling but that all safety systems remain operational and there had been no increase in radiation levels. The country said it did not yet have complete information on the nature of the damage from the shelling.
As soon as the team reaches Zaporizhzhya plant this week, ISAMZ will assess the physical damage to the facilities, determine the functionality of the main and backup safety and security systems, and evaluate the working conditions of the control room staff. At the same time, the mission will undertake urgent safeguards activities to verify that nuclear material is used only for peaceful purposes.
Source: IAEA
