The occupation of Zaporizhzhia NPP by russia, threats to nuclear safety and security arising from the full-scale war of russia against Ukraine - these topics were always in the focus of attention at important international platforms last year. On 10 January 2025, SNRIU Chairman and Chief State Nuclear and Radiation Safety Inspector of Ukraine Oleh Korikov said this at a briefing at the Media Centre Ukraine, informing about the results of 2024 in the field of nuclear safety and security.
“High involvement in international activities allowed us to form an international consensus of the civilised world in support of Ukraine. The Ukrainian issue, occupation of ZNPP, threats of a full-scale war for nuclear safety and security are always in the focus of attention at international platforms where the use of nuclear energy is considered. Ukraine's membership in the IAEA Board of Governors provided an opportunity to directly influence decisions during the exercise of the Board's powers in 2024. In 2024, the Ukrainian delegation took part in 4 regular meetings of the IAEA Board of Governors and one extraordinary meeting convened at the initiative of Ukraine on 12 December”, he said.
Thanks to active work with international partners and the consolidated position of civilised countries that support our state, we managed to:
- ensure continued international monitoring mission of the safety of all Ukrainian NPPs through the work of permanent IAEA monitoring missions, including at the occupied ZNPP and ChNPP, which is in the process of decommissioning;
- expand the IAEA international monitoring mission to electrical substations, which are important for nuclear safety and security at Ukrainian NPPs and which last year became the No. 1 target for russian missile attacks (in September-December 2024, IAEA experts conducted three extended missions to electrical substations and this work should continue in 2025);
- start implementing the programme of the IAEA Mission to Ukraine to support and assist in the safety and security of ionising radiation sources;
- successfully implement the IAEA Mission to provide technical and medical assistance to Ukrainian NPPs.
“We have maintained and are in constant dialogue with the national nuclear regulators of Canada, the United Kingdom, Poland, Austria, Australia, Norway, the United States, Sweden, the Czech Republic, France, Finland and other countries. The Ukrainian issue is always among the key issues at the meetings of the Western European Nuclear Regulators Association (WENRA), International Nuclear Regulators Association (INRA), G7 Nuclear Safety Group, European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group (ENSREG), during which international partners receive up-to-date and complete information on the situation at the ZNPP occupied by russian troops and on the impact of a full-scale war on nuclear safety and security”, Oleh Korikov emphasized.
Among other important achievements in 2024, he also highlighted the following:
- development and implementation of amendments to the main document of the series of national norms and rules on nuclear safety and security of NPPs - General Safety Provisions for Nuclear Power Plants, which take into account the best European practices of regulating nuclear safety and security and should significantly increase the level of nuclear safety and security of operating NPPs in Ukraine by performing an in-depth safety assessment; provide an opportunity to build new power units in Ukraine only according to projects that meet international requirements, have high reliability and are made using modern technologies and standards;
- development and approval of the Regulation on Radiation Protection Expert, which establishes that a radiation protection expert will advise entities in the field of nuclear energy use, other legal entities and individuals, and authorities on compliance with the requirements of the legislation on nuclear safety and security; the Regulation establishes qualification characteristics, requirements for educational level, knowledge and practical skills, work experience of radiation protection experts, a list of areas of their competence and functions, and the procedure for issuing a certificate of competence.
Answering the question about the impact of russian missile attacks on energy infrastructure facilities on nuclear safety and security at Ukrainian NPPs, the SNRIU Chairman stressed that thanks to the Armed Forces of Ukraine and professionalism of Ukrainian nuclear scientists, constant and significant international assistance, Ukrainian NPPs continue to operate and provide electricity to the country.
“All power units of nuclear power plants located on the territory controlled by Ukraine are operated in accordance with technological regulations, and the radiation background at the industrial sites is within the normal limits. However, russian attacks on energy infrastructure facilities, causing damage and destruction, affect the operation of nuclear power plants. The destruction of critical substations increases nuclear safety risks, including operational events, direct and delayed damage to equipment, which can become a trigger for an accident. It is impossible to operate a nuclear power plant without a properly functioning power grid. The IAEA management understands all the possible consequences, so it supported Ukraine and expanded the monitoring mission to include electrical substations”, said Oleh Korikov.
A specific part of the briefing was devoted to the situation at the Zaporizhzhia NPP occupied by the Russian Federation, which remains a major challenge for both the national nuclear regulator and the global nuclear community.
“Through its occupation of ZNPP, the russian federation continues to cynically ignore international principles of nuclear safety and security, committing nuclear terror, while still remaining a member of the IAEA. In the third year of ZNPP occupation, we see disorder and degradation at all levels: from the management system, which is based not on the principle of responsibility of the operator of nuclear facilities, but on instructions from the capital of the aggressor country, to the technical condition of the equipment, the degradation of which may reach the point of irreversibility. In the hands of the occupiers, ZNPP is a blackmail tool and an object for mockery of the principles of safety and justification, which are fundamental at the stage of making a decision on the feasibility of building any nuclear power plant in the world”, said Oleh Korikov.
Among the most shameful consequences of the ongoing russian occupation of ZNPP, he named:
- the lack of legitimate, qualified personnel, which negatively affects the maintenance of equipment, security systems and systems important for maintaining the safety of the plant;
- the invaders continue to militarise ZNPP, using it as a military base where russian military personnel are stationed, military and combat equipment, weapons, explosives, etc;
- due to constant shelling by the russian troops, cases of violation of the important principle of ensuring reliable external power supply to ZNPP have become much more frequent;
- the automated radiation monitoring system (ARMS) at ZNPP remained blocked by the occupiers during the year;
- the occupiers create obstacles for the work of experts of the IAEA permanent monitoring mission at ZNPP, do not provide timely access to important areas of the plant;
- ignorance and incompetence of the occupation administration and personnel led to a fire at one of the ZNPP cooling towers;
- the occupiers switched off the last circulation pump that pumped water for the needs of the plant, which is another telling fact that indicates the degradation of nuclear and radiation safety.
“However, it is important that all ZNPP power units are still in a cold state. In the cold state of the power units, water consumption is reduced, and from the nuclear safety and security point of view, in the event of a complete power outage, the time margin before the possible destruction of safety barriers to the spread of radiation into the environment increases. The cold shutdown is the result of joint efforts of the regulator, the operating organisation, the country's top political leadership, our international partners, and the IAEA”, SNRIU Chairman emphasised.
He once again stressed that the only way to restore nuclear and radiation safety at ZNPP is its demilitarisation, de-occupation and return of control over ZNPP to the legitimate owner, JSC “NNEGC ‘Energoatom’, and the legitimate regulator SNRIU.
And this can only be done through sanctions, political and economic isolation of the aggressor country, termination of cooperation in the field of nuclear energy, deprivation of benefits and privileges in the IAEA and other international institutions. At all international events, meetings, and conferences, we continue to insist on the need for such decisive actions,’ Oleh Korikov summed up.