IAEA: Nuclear Safety Remains Unstable at Europe's Largest Ukrainian Zaporizhzhia NPP Captured by Russians

The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, arrived in Kyiv today for a visit.  He met with the heads of the Ministry of Energy, the SNRIU and Energoatom. Afterwards, the IAEA chief plans to visit the Zaporizhzhya NPP, temporarily seized by the Russian occupation army. 

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi announced this today on social media. 

"On the eve of the visit to ZNPP, I am pleased to meet with Energy Minister Galushchenko, Regulator (Head of the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine) Korikov and Kotin from Energoatom and exchange views on Ukraine's nuclear power plants," he said in his post.

The head of the nuclear agency also reminded that the IAEA remains unwavering in its commitment to the safety and security of nuclear facilities.

Security at Ukraine's Russian-seized Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant remains fragile amid worrying recent staff cuts by the Russian occupation authorities, who still hold the facility, which is one of the 10 largest nuclear power plants in the world, the UN nuclear chief said.

Rafael Grossi told the Associated Press that his upcoming visit to the plant, as Russia's war in Ukraine approaches its two-year mark, will aim to assess the impact of these recent staff cuts after Russia denied inspectors access to the plant. 

"This huge facility used to employ about 12,000 people. Now the number is down to 2,000-3,000, which is a pretty drastic reduction in the number of people working there," Grossi said. 

"From a human point of view, to run these very complex large installations, you need a certain number of people performing different specific functions."

Grossi's visit coincided with the arrival in the Ukrainian capital of the European Union's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, who said he was there to discuss military aid and financial support, as well as Ukraine's aspirations to join the bloc.