Ukraine and IAEA Collaborate on Nuclear Safety Monitoring

By Pavel Polityuk

KYIV (Reuters) – Ukraine and the U.N. nuclear agency (IAEA) have agreed that the agency’s experts will monitor the situation at key Ukrainian substations in addition to nuclear plants, according to Ukraine’s chief nuclear inspector on Thursday.

More than half of the electricity consumed in Ukraine is generated at three nuclear power plants. However, recent Russian missile and drone attacks on substations threaten the stable operation of these plants, Oleh Korikov noted during a televised briefing.

“It was agreed that IAEA would expand its functionality, its presence in Ukraine, and that electrical substations, which are important for the safety of nuclear power plants, would also be subject to international monitoring,” Korikov said.

The initial visit of the monitoring mission to one of the substations is scheduled for next week, he added. Ukrainian authorities are hopeful that the inspectors’ presence will help mitigate attacks on substations.

Rafael Grossi, Director General of the IAEA, is currently in Ukraine and recently visited the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which was seized by Russian forces shortly after Russia’s invasion in February 2022.

Moscow and Kyiv have consistently accused each other of attacks that risk a nuclear accident at the plant. In recent months, Ukraine’s energy infrastructure has faced an uptick in Russian missile and drone attacks, with officials stating that the country has lost approximately half of its generating capacity, now relying primarily on nuclear energy.

Moscow, although denying targeting civilians, claims that damaging Ukraine’s energy system is a legitimate military objective.

Nuclear Power Units Disconnected

The Ukrainian mission to the IAEA reported last week that a Russian drone and missile attack in late August forced Ukraine to disconnect several nuclear power units from the grid, posing a risk to the nuclear power sector. The attack was aimed at paralyzing the operation of power facilities.

“Russia, while not directly striking nuclear power plants, is threatening their safe operation through attacks on energy infrastructure facilities,” Korikov emphasized.

As a consequence of the August 26 attack, three out of four power units at the Rivne nuclear power plant in western Ukraine were disconnected from the grid, along with unit 3 of the South Ukraine nuclear power plant. This week, the Ukrainian nuclear power firm Energoatom announced a capacity reduction at one unit of the South Ukraine nuclear power plant after Russian attacks damaged the country’s Ukrenergo electricity transmission system. The output was reduced due to “hostile shelling of Ukrenergo’s infrastructure” and “significant fluctuations in the parameters of the grid.”