International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi is to travel to Ukraine for high-level meetings in Kyiv to discuss the IAEA’s ongoing efforts to help prevent a nuclear accident during the military conflict, IAEA reported. It will be the 11th mission to Ukraine led personally by the Director General since the conflict began almost three years ago, “demonstrating the IAEA’s unwavering commitment to assist Ukraine in ensuring nuclear safety and security”.

Mikhail Ulyanov, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to International Organisations in Vienna, told Zvezda that Grossi also plans to visit Moscow to discuss the state of affairs at the Zaporizhia NPP (ZNPP), the nuclear safety situation, the work of IAEA specialists, and the reports of the IAEA Secretary to the Board of Governors. “We have considerable comments on these reports. All this will be discussed, ” Ulyanov noted.

His comments came in the wake of more drone attacks on the ZNPP operators’ town of Energodar. ZNPP Communications Director Yevgenia Yashina reported on 2 February that “seven kamikaze drones of the Ukrainian Armed Forces attacked Energodar during the day. There were no injuries or fires in the city.” She added that the attacks did not affect the facilities of the NPP. “The situation in the city and at the Zaporizhia NPP is under control, but the risk of new attacks remains,” she said.

The acting head of the Energodar administration, Maksim Pukhov, also reported the attacks. “Today, four attempts to attack Energodar with kamikaze drones have already been recorded. Two of them were suppressed by electronic warfare. There are no injuries or fires, ” he wrote in his Telegram channel.

“As long as this horrific war continues, the IAEA will remain present and stay active, focused on doing everything we can to support nuclear safety and security in extremely challenging circumstances. As the overall situation is still precarious and fragile, our work there remains essential,” Director General Grossi said in his latest update.

Over the past week, the IAEA teams present at Ukraine’s NPPs have continued to report on the persistent risks the facilities are facing, with numerous indications of military activity near the sites. In addition, at ZNPP, the IAEA team heard explosions daily coming from outside the plant, including multiple explosions at a near distance but there was no damage reported to the plant itself.

Highlighting persistent challenges related to the availability of off-site power, the ZNPP’s sole remaining 750 kilovolt (kV) power line was disconnected again due to the activation of a protection system, once more leaving the site dependent on its only remaining 330 kV back-up power line for the electricity it needs for reactor cooling and other essential nuclear safety functions.

The IAEA team continued to conduct walkdowns across the ZNPP, including at the 750 kV open switchyard for the first time since late last year. The team members confirmed that maintenance on the voltage stabilisers had been completed and discussed future maintenance work with the ZNPP.

The team observed condensation – water drops on the floor and walls – within the containment building of reactor unit 5. ZNPP confirmed it was aware of this issue, and the IAEA team will monitor the situation. The team assessed that the safety system rooms were in good order.

Earlier the IAEA team said it had been informed that ZNPP is procuring three new mobile diesel generators, similar to those received late last year. They are in addition to the site’s 20 fixed emergency diesel generators that are designed to provide on-site power if there is a total loss of off-site power. Separately, ZNPP said that four diesel steam generators were put into operation for ten days to provide the steam needed to process liquid radioactive waste. These generators were commissioned a year ago.

ZNPP also reported a visit by representatives of the Ministry of Energy of Zaporozhye region. They visited the unique training centre of the plant, the main function of which is to train operational and repair personnel, the ZNPP press service reported. “The training centre of Zaporizhia NPP is a unique and impressive facility. Here, the station staff is constantly trained and sharpens their skills. Thanks to this, the safe operation of the ZNPP is fully ensured,” the Minister of Energy of the region Alexander Gomonov commented. The centre has   full scope simulators, which are full scale copies of the control rooms of units 1, 3&5.