The Minister of Energy of Ukraine German Galushchenko met with Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Rafael Grossi. The parties met in Vienna, Austria, where the IAEA Board of Governors was meeting.
After three years of russia’s full-scale aggression against Ukraine and the russian occupation of the Zaporizhia NPP, threats to nuclear and radiation safety remain extremely high, with constant incidents due to shelling and criminal actions by the aggressor country posing a great danger.
russia’s constant attacks on critical infrastructure are unacceptable, civilian infrastructure should remain outside the scope of military operations and its protection should be a priority for the international community.
In particular, the parties discussed the attack by a russian UAV on the new protective arch at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The Minister named this an unprecedented criminal act, calling for immediate measures to strengthen the protection of all nuclear facilities in Ukraine and to ensure that nuclear power plants can never again be a direct target of attacks.
Special attention was paid to the situation around ZNPP. In particular, the threats to nuclear safety at the plant, which still remain very high due to the hostile occupation of the facility, as well as the unauthorised rotation of IAEA experts at ZNPP. It was emphasised that future rotations should take place exclusively along routes agreed with the Ukrainian authorities and through territories under the full control of the Ukrainian authorities.
“russia should not go unpunished for seizing nuclear power plants and creating risks to nuclear and radiation safety. Otherwise, it will set a precedent that will show that such a blatant violation of nuclear safety has no legal consequences. And the IAEA’s role in informing the international community about russia’s violations and crimes at ZNPP is critically important,” German Galushchenko said. (Government portal)