At a meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors, Joint Statement issued by 48 member states was delivered.
The Member States reaffirmed their full support for the Agency’s ongoing efforts to ensure nuclear safety and security in Ukraine.
“russia’s continued control of Ukraine’s ZNPP, including the presence of armed troops and military equipment, as reported by the Agency, compromises the DG’s “seven indispensable pillars for nuclear safety and security in an armed conflict” and puts the implementation of the five concrete principles for protecting ZNPP at risk. It has led to the plant’s ongoing technical degradation and continues to present serious nuclear safety and security risks to the broader region,” the statement says.
Key points of the statement:
- It is essential that all reactors at ZNPP remain in cold shutdown mode. As the Director General reports, the current situation at ZNPP with respect to the availability of cooling water, the reliability of off-site power supply, the completion of overdue maintenance, and the availability of spare parts would not support a return of ZNPP to normal operating conditions;
- The Member States firmly reject any attempts to consider the short-term restart of reactors at ZNPP, which would be inconsistent with well-established nuclear safety principles and with the Agency’s understanding as described in the Director General’s reports. Moreover, any attempt by the russian federation to restart ZNPP would contradict relevant resolutions of this Board, the IAEA General Conference, and the UN General Assembly and would be wholly unacceptable;
- Any restart of the reactors at ZNPP can only take place once the facility has been returned to the legitimate control and oversight of Ukraine’s competent regulatory authority. Any reactor restart must be preceded by thorough demining operations, rigorous repair of all reactors and auxiliary systems, and comprehensive safety inspections leading to an explicit certification from Ukraine’s nuclear regulatory body. The Agency would also play a critical role in ensuring the plant is safe for restart;
- The russian federation must immediately cease any actions which hinder the timely conduct of ISAMZ rotations and put the safety of Agency staff at risk;
- ISAMZ must be granted full, unrestricted, and timely access to all relevant areas and information to fully report on the nuclear safety and security situation at the ZNPP and to undertake vital safeguards activities in line with Ukraine’s legal safeguards obligations;
In line with previous resolutions of the IAEA Board and General Conference, we call on russia to remove all unauthorized military and other personnel from ZNPP territory and for the plant to be returned to the full control of the competent Ukrainian regulatory authority.
The statement also urges all IAEA Member States to offer continued political, financial, technical, and in-kind support to the IAEA comprehensive programme of technical support and assistance to Ukraine. This includes ensuring the continued presence of IAEA experts at Ukrainian nuclear sites and strengthening the IAEA’s capacity to provide real-time, fact based, and impartial assessments of the nuclear safety and security situation.
Minister of Energy of Ukraine German Galushchenko expressed gratitude for the IAEA’s support in ensuring nuclear safety.
“Any actions by the russian occupiers at the Zaporizhzhia NPP constitute a blatant violation of international law and a direct threat to nuclear safety. The ZNPP remains a tool of blackmail by the russians against the entire civilized international community. Any attempts by russian representatives to restart power units could lead to unpredictable consequences. We once again call on the international community to prevent the occupiers from implementing a catastrophic scenario,” German Galushchenko stated.
The full text of the statement is available here:
Adapted from the materials of the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine.
