IAEA expanding presence in Ukraine to prevent nuclear accident, chief says

Amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi on Monday said, the agency is expanding its presence in Ukraine to provide all possible nuclear safety and security.

Taking to Twitter, the IAEA Chief said, the agency is increasing its presence in Ukraine to help prevent a nuclear accident during the ongoing conflict. The IAEA said, the Director General would travel to South Ukraine and Rivne Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs) and the Chernobyl site to launch the missions consisting of two IAEA experts at each of the facilities.

The UN agency in a statement said, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi will be in Ukraine next week to establish a continuous presence of nuclear safety and security experts at all the country’s nuclear power facilities, significantly stepping up the efforts of the International Atomic Energy Agency to help prevent a nuclear accident during the current military conflict. According to an official statement of IAEA, a new team of three IAEA experts will replace the previous team that had been there for several weeks.

The IAEA Chief will also meet with officials in Kyiv during his visit to Ukraine to discuss the creation of a safety zone around the Zaporizhzhia NPP in southeastern Ukraine. Located on the left bank of the Dnipro River, the ZNPP is Europe’s largest nuclear power plant by the number of units and output.

After the start of the Ukraine conflict in February last year, the station and surrounding area went under the control of the Russian forces and have since been shelled multiple times. Russia and Ukraine blame each other for the attacks.