IAEA Expands Its Mission in Ukraine to Prevent Nuclear Accident

, 16 January 2023, 15:32

The International Atomic Energy Agency expands its presence in Ukraine to help prevent a nuclear accident during the ongoing war.

"I’m proud to lead this mission to 🇺🇦, where we’re deploying in all of the country’s NPPs to provide assistance in nuclear safety and security," Rafael Grossi, IAEA Director, wrote on Twitter.

As reported, Grossi will travel to the South Ukraine and Rivne Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs) as well as to the Chornobyl site to launch the missions consisting of two IAEA experts at each of the facilities.

The IAEA already has a permanent presence of up to four experts at the Zaporizhzhia NPP; in addition, a team of two experts will also be stationed at the Khmelnytsky NPP in the coming days.

In general, the IAEA will have around 11-12 experts present in the country.

After a short-lived mission at the Zaporizhzhia NPP, IAEA experts presented a report confirming that Russia had deployed "military personnel, vehicles and equipment in various locations at the plant". Since then, Rafael Grossi, the IAEA’s Director General, has been negotiating with Kyiv and Moscow to establish a nuclear safety zone around the plant.

War with Russia