IAEA Director General concerned over military actions near Rivne and Khmelnytsky NPPs

Director General of the Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Mariano Grossi expressed concern about military actions near the Rivne and Khmelnytsky nuclear power plants last night, the agency reported on its website on Wednesday.

“I’m deeply concerned about last night’s events. According to our teams on the ground, these were unusually large-scale military activities close to these two nuclear power plants, which should never happen. Once again, I reiterate my call for maximum military restraint near such facilities. A severe nuclear accident would be in no one’s interest and must be avoided at all cost,” he said.

Coinciding with reports of widespread attacks in the country’s west, IAEA team members deployed at two of Ukraine’s operating nuclear power plants (NPPs) – Khmelnytskyy and Rivne – heard drones as well as bursts of gunfire while in their accommodations in the cities of Netishyn and Varash, both located just a few kilometres from the two respective plants.

Following up this morning, the IAEA team at the Khmelnytskyy NPP was informed that the plant overnight detected nine drones flying as close as three kilometres from the site, while the Rivne NPP said it observed 13 such unmanned aerial vehicles in its surveillance area. This comes a week after the team at Rivne previously heard military activity from their hotel, which until now has been rare.

General Grossi said such military activity in the proximity of NPPs posed a threat to the Seven Indispensable Pillars for ensuring nuclear safety and security during an armed conflict that he outlined in March 2022, especially Pillar 1 on the physical integrity of nuclear facilities and Pillar 3 regarding the safety of operating staff.

“The world’s attention has – rightly – been very much focused on the extremely challenging situation at the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) located on the frontline. However, the nuclear safety and security situation remains extremely vulnerable also at the four other sites where we have teams, as demonstrated all too clearly last night,” he said.