During his latest trip to Ukraine, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi inspected damaged power grid infrastructure and held high level talks with officials. This was Grossi’s 11th visit to Ukraine since the start of military conflict in February 2022.
In the first of several posts on X (formerly Twitter) he noted: “I’m at Kyivska electrical substation — an important part of Ukraine’s power grid essential for nuclear safety. A nuclear accident can result from a direct attack on a plant, but also from power supply disruption. IAEA is here to assess impact, support, & help prevent that risk.”
During his inspection of the Kyivska 750 kV substation, he was accompanied by Energy Minister German Galuschenko and the head of nuclear utility Energoatom Petro Kotin as well as a number of journalists.
Grossi, told reporters: “The main purpose of my visit this time is to personally see and assess the situation at substations in general.” Russian military strikes on Ukraine have targeted the power system as well as military sites, but have never targeted Ukrainian NPPs.
“In particular, at this stage, we chose the Kiev substation because of its importance for the functioning of the Ukrainian energy system,” Grossi noted. “As you know, this station plays a key role. It is involved in the transmission of electricity to and from the grid from two very important nuclear power plants – Rivne and Khmelnitsky, as well as from the Chernobyl facility.” A video of communication with the press at the site of the visit was provided to journalists by the IAEA press service.
Grossi said that the substation had received significant damage. He noted that Kiev informed him about the measures taken to maintain the stability of the energy system, including the preparation of backup transformers, which are planned to be put into operation in the near future. He stressed that, despite the damage he was “impressed by the work and efforts made to maintain nuclear safety”.
Ukrainian Energy Minister Galushchenko told reporters: “These substations are part of the radiation and nuclear safety chain, which is why it is very important that Raphael [Grossi] is here today personally, that there are IAEA missions that have already taken place several times and will continue to take place at these substations and that discussion of this issue is taking place at IAEA meetings. it is very important that we continue to monitor these substations.”
Following the visit to the substation, Grossi told reporters that he had also discussed the project to complete units 3&4 of the Khmelnitsky NPP with Galushenko and Energoatom’s Petro Kotin. And that he also planned to discuss the matter with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The IAEA considers the decision on whether to complete Khmelnitsky 3&4 an internal matter for Ukraine, Grossi said, adding that the Agency’s mission is to ensure compliance with nuclear safety standards. “We believe that every country has sovereign authority to decide which projects it will pursue in the energy sector. In Ukraine’s case, it seems to be a wise decision because, as we see today, nuclear energy has remained a critical backbone supporting the economy during the extremely challenging times of war,” he told the reporters in Kyiv.
“I look forward to a conversation with the President later today because the agency is, of course, ready to assist. We’ve already started some analytical work to assess specific areas where we could provide safety evaluations for the project,” he stated.
He noted that the project would be particularly interesting as there are few previous examples of resuming construction on suspended NPP units. Grossi acknowledged Ukraine’s significant efforts and investments in completing the units, with construction progress at 80% for unit 3 and 25% for unit 4. He also mentioned Ukraine’s intention to utilise reactor equipment initially intended for Bulgaria’s Belene site. “I reiterate: we have started drafting what we call the technical specifications, meaning what we will focus on in our evaluations,” Grossi said.
Grossi subsequently had talks with Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiga, whom he thanked in a post on X “for our timely and important meeting in Kyiv today”. He added that he was “grateful for your indispensable support to IAEA’s continuous efforts to strengthen nuclear safety and security in Ukraine”.
In his final X post, Grossi said he had an “important meeting” with President Zelensky “in Kyiv after visiting a critical substation on my 11th visit to Ukraine since war began. IAEA remains fully committed to nuclear safety and security in Ukraine and stands ready to support plans to expand nuclear power in Khmelnitsky NPP”.
According to reports, Grossi is also planning to visit Moscow to meet with Rosatom head Alexei Likhachev and other officials for similar discussions.
