IAEA Director General to visit Kyiv and ZNPP this week

Rafael Mariano Grossi , Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), will hold high-level talks in Kyiv tomorrow, February 6. After that  he will visit Zaporizhzhia NPP. UNN reports this with reference to the IAEA.  

Before heading to the plant in the southeast of the country, he will hold high-level talks in the capital Kyiv on Tuesday. 

Details

According to the IAEA, Grossi is to review and attempt to make progress in addressing a number of ongoing nuclear safety issues at ZNPP, including potential risks associated with maintenance activities at the plant.

"The Director General will also raise the most important issue of ZNPP staffing and request additional information on the plant's new statement that no employees of Ukraine's national operator Energoatom will be allowed on the site from today. The team working at ZNPP now consists of former Energoatom employees who have taken Russian citizenship and signed employment contracts with the Russian operating organization, as well as employees seconded to ZNPP from the Russian Federation," the statement said.

It is reported that ZNPP informed the IAEA team on site that the plant has enough certified personnel and all vacancies are fully filled.  

"I will discuss this latest development when I visit Zaporizhzhia NPP... It is extremely important that the plant has the skilled and qualified personnel needed to ensure nuclear safety. The number of personnel has already been significantly reduced since the beginning of the war almost two years ago," Grossi said.  

Addendum

Nuclear fuel at the Russian-occupied ZNPP is reaching the end of its service life.  

RosSIA reportedthat in mid-February, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi may meet with Alexei Likhachev, head of the Russian nuclear corporation Rosatom.