Oleh Korikov: russia is trying to legalise its criminal occupation of ZNPP through international conventions
Published 11 November 2024 11:43

Ukraine and the entire global nuclear community are facing a new challenge related to the attempts of the russian federation to legalise the armed seizure and occupation of peaceful nuclear facilities in Ukraine using the instrument of international conventions. This was stated by Head of SNRIU - Chief State Inspector for Nuclear and Radiation Safety of Ukraine Oleh Korikov during the regular plenary meeting of the Western European Nuclear Regulators Association (WENRA), which took place on 6-8 November 2024 in Warsaw (Republic of Poland) at the office of the National Atomic Energy Agency of Poland (PAA).

“In preparation for the Eighth Review Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management, the russian federation, as a party to the Convention, presented in its national report statistical information on the Ukrainian nuclear facilities occupied by it, located at the site of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant and in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. The aggressor country is trying to present these facilities as its own, contrary to a number of resolutions of the UN General Assembly, General Conference and IAEA Board of Governors, the position of the entire civilised world”, said Oleh Korikov in his report.

The SNRIU Chairman called on WENRA and its member states to take measures to prevent the use of such international instruments to ensure global nuclear safety and security as the Joint Convention for the Legalisation of Aggression and Terror of the russian federation against peaceful nuclear facilities of Ukraine.

Following the discussion of this issue, the WENRA member states expressed full solidarity with Ukraine and readiness to take all possible measures provided for by the rules of the Joint Convention to prevent the recognition of the occupied Ukrainian nuclear facilities as russian.

It is worth noting that starting from 2022, the WENRA plenary programme includes a separate session on the situation in Ukraine. This time, the SNRIU delegation in Warsaw presented a number of reports, during which the participants were informed about:

  • current state of nuclear safety and security of Zaporizhzhya NPP and other nuclear facilities in Ukraine;
  • the results of the IAEA missions in Ukraine and their effectiveness in terms of ensuring nuclear safety and security of Ukraine in the context of a full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the russian federation;
  • consequences of shelling of the energy infrastructure of Ukraine;
  • progress in licensing the use of Westinghouse nuclear fuel at Ukrainian NPPs;
  • Ukraine's achievements in the process of implementing the WENRA reference levels for reactor safety into national legislation (in particular, the revision of the General Safety Standards for Nuclear Power Plants, the updated version of which came into force on 15 May 2024).

In addition, the plenary session reviewed the status of implementation of WENRA Safety Reference Levels for Existing Reactors in the national nuclear safety regulations of Poland (in 2023, became a full member of the Association) and Japan (in 2023, became an associate member of the Association), as well as plans and readiness of the nuclear safety regulatory authorities of these countries to benchmark the implementation results. The issues of public involvement in the process of preparing for long-term operation and extending the design life of NPPs were discussed, the national experience of the Association's member countries and the relevant regulatory requirements for the use of general industrial components and materials for safety-critical systems were considered. The Draft Safety Objectives for New NPPs was reviewed.

The meeting also heard reports from the heads of the WENRA Working Groups on Reactor Safety Harmonisation (RHWG), Radioactive Waste Management and Decommissioning (WGWD), and Research Reactor Safety (WGRR), as well as reports from representatives of nuclear safety regulatory authorities of the participating countries on achievements important from the point of view of nuclear safety regulation.


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