IAEA provided Ukraine with EUR 8.5M worth of equipment since war started

According to an Ukrinform correspondent, this was stated by IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi at a meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors in Vienna.

“Since November 2023, the Agency has arranged five deliveries of nuclear safety and security equipment to Ukraine, bringing the total value of deliveries since the start of the war to more than €8.5 million. The Agency also continued to deliver its medical assistance programme,” he said.

According to Grossi, discussions are progressing “in defining the needs to address the consequences of flooding in the Kherson Oblast”. The IAEA also prepared a proposal “for the first phase of its support regarding the safety and security of radioactive sources in Ukraine.”

The IAEA chief stated that the Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Plant, the South Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant and the Rivne Nuclear Power Plant continue produce electricity for the country’s network. “During this reporting period there were no reported instances of the operating NPPs having to reduce power production as a result of the war. However, frequent air-raid alarms highlighted the dangers of the military conflict to the nuclear safety and security of these sites,” he said.

According to Grossi, in the past three months, all rotations of Agency staff at all nuclear sites were conducted as planned and without delays. “A total of 98 missions comprising 131 Agency staff members so far have been deployed as part of the continued presence at all five nuclear sites in Ukraine,” he said.

As reported, the Zaporizhzhia NPP has been captured by the Russian military since March 4, 2022. Since then, the Russians have repeatedly violated nuclear safety principles by deploying military equipment on the plant's territory, mining the area, and terrorizing the staff. The invaders ignore the IAEA decision to return ZNPP to Energoatom's control.

Since February 1, 2024, the invaders have allowed only employees who have Russian citizenship and have signed contracts with a Russian company to work at the Zaporizhzhia NPP.

During the opening of the Board of Governors meeting on Monday in Vienna, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi stated that the situation at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant remains very unstable, as six of the seven pillars of nuclear and physical safety defined by the Agency have been fully or partially compromised.