Ukraine has provided the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) with a comprehensive list of equipment the country says it needs for the safe and secure operation of its nuclear facilities during the current conflict, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said today.
The Director General said the detailed equipment requirements submitted through the IAEA’s Unified System for Information Exchange in Incidents and Emergencies (USIE) – a secure web site for the exchange of notifications and other emergency-related information between countries – would enable the Agency to effectively coordinate and implement the delivery of support to Ukraine. Many IAEA Member States have expressed readiness to offer such assistance to the country.
Ukraine’s request for assistance addressed to the IAEA and 31 of its Member States will be coordinated through the overall mechanism of the Agency’s Response and Assistance Network (RANET), where countries can register their capabilities for support in areas ranging from radiation dose assessments and decontamination to nuclear installation assessment and advice, radioactive source search and recovery and much else.
The IAEA delivered initial equipment to Ukraine when the Director General was at the South Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) last month and more will be handed over when he travels to the Chornobyl NPP next week, for example radiation monitoring equipment as well as personal protective equipment.
The list Ukraine sent on Friday covers a range of equipment for different nuclear facilities in the country, and includes various radiation measurement devices, protective material, computer-related assistance, power supply systems and diesel generators.
“The IAEA has the technical expertise that is needed to support Ukraine in keeping its nuclear sites safe and secure. We will coordinate the implementation of the assistance that the IAEA and its Member States will provide, including by delivering required equipment directly to Ukraine’s nuclear sites. The needs are great and I’m very grateful for the considerable support that our Member States have already indicated they will make available for Ukraine.”
Ukraine separately informed the IAEA today that a staff rotation took place on 19 April at the Chornobyl NPP, the third such reported change of personnel on duty since the conflict began on 24 February. Russian forces held the site for five weeks before they withdrew on 31 March. Ukraine told the IAEA on Thursday that staff rotation was now taking place regularly and according to plan.
Regarding the country’s 15 operational reactors at four nuclear power plants, Ukraine said seven are currently connected to the grid, including two at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhya NPP, two at the Rivne NPP, two at the South Ukraine NPP, and one at the Khmelnytskyy NPP. The eight other reactors are shut down for regular maintenance or held in reserve. Safety systems remain operational at the four NPPs and they also continue to have off-site power available, Ukraine said.
In relation to safeguards, the IAEA said it was still not receiving remote data transmission from its monitoring systems installed at the Chornobyl NPP, but such data was being transferred to IAEA headquarters from the other NPPs in Ukraine.