A new team of four experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) arrived at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) today to replace the four experts who had been on the site for the past four weeks, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said.
It was the second rotation of IAEA nuclear safety, security and safeguards experts since the Director General travelled to Europe’s largest nuclear plant on 1 September to establish the IAEA Support and Assistance Mission to Zaporizhzhya (ISAMZ) as part of efforts to prevent a nuclear accident during the current conflict in Ukraine. The new IAEA team will be third at the ZNPP in the past two months.
“Thanks to the support of all concerned parties, we were able to successfully carry out a rotation of staff at the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant a few hours ago. Their presence means that the world knows what is happening at this major nuclear power plant located in the middle of a war zone. I’m deeply grateful to all our experts, both arriving to and leaving the site today, for their determination and courage in carrying out their important safety, security and safeguards activities at the plant,” Director General Grossi said.
The Director General earlier reported that the ZNPP’s main external 750 kilovolt (kV) power line was disconnected following shelling at around 10pm local time yesterday, and a 330 kV line providing back-up electricity was also lost shortly after midnight. Repair work on the 330 kV line is under way. The ZNPP is currently receiving power for essential nuclear safety and security functions from its diesel emergency generators.
Ukraine’s South Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant also lost its connection to the same 750 kV line, one of three 750 kV lines used by this plant to provide power to the grid, prompting the site to reduce the power of one of its three operating reactors by 50%, Ukraine informed the IAEA.
Separately today, the Director General said IAEA inspectors had completed their in-field verification activities at three locations in Ukraine at the request of the Government of Ukraine. Based on the evaluation of the results available to date and the information provided by Ukraine, the Agency did not find any indications of undeclared nuclear activities and materials at the locations.