Category: Press Release

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency – IAEA

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was informed about a further attempted drone attack today on the training centre of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), causing no damage or casualties, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said.

It would be the third reported attack targeting the training facility recently, following two such incidents last week. The ZNPP told the IAEA team stationed at the site that today’s drone had been “neutralized”, without giving further details.

The IAEA team heard an explosion at the same local time, 10:35am, as when ZNPP subsequently reported the attempted drone attack took place.

The team was denied access to the training centre just outside the ZNPP site perimeter to assess the incident, with the plant citing potential security risks.

It comes less than two weeks after a series of drone attacks significantly deepened concerns about the already precarious nuclear safety and security situation at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant (NPP), located on the frontline of the conflict.

“If confirmed, it would be an extremely worrying development. Whoever is behind these incidents, they appear to be ignoring the international community’s repeated calls for maximum military restraint to avert the very real threat of a serious nuclear accident, which could have significant health and environmental consequences and benefit absolutely no one,” Director General Grossi said.

“So far, the drone strikes have not compromised nuclear safety at the site. But, as I told the United Nations Security Council a few days ago, these reckless attacks must cease immediately,” Director General Grossi said.

Earlier this week, a new team of IAEA experts arrived at the ZNPP, crossing the frontline of the conflict on Tuesday to replace their colleagues who had been monitoring the situation at the ZNPP for the past several weeks.

It is the 18th team of IAEA experts at the plant since Director General Grossi established a permanent presence there in September 2022 to help prevent a nuclear accident during the military conflict.    

“Our presence at the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant is needed more than ever. As I also informed the Security Council, we are getting dangerously close to a nuclear accident. This month’s drone attacks were the first clear violation of the five concrete principles for the protection of the site that I established at the Security Council almost one year ago,” Director General Grossi said.

“In these extremely difficult and challenging times, I’m very encouraged by the strong support and unanimous appreciation of the IAEA’s important work expressed by the members of the Security Council. Everybody agrees that the IAEA’s role is indispensable as we do everything in our power to keep the plant safe and secure,” he added.

In addition to today’s report of an attempted drone attack, the IAEA experts heard several rounds of outgoing artillery fire early in the week, as has been an almost daily occurrence in recent weeks and months. As has also happened previously, artillery fire near the site at one stage triggered the alarms of cars parked near the ZNPP’s administrative building.

“I sincerely hope that our calls for maximum military restraint – both at the IAEA Board of Governors and the United Nations Security Council – will be heeded before it is too late. The dangers facing the plant have not gone away, as shown by today’s reported drone explosion. As we saw on 7 April, the situation can take a sudden and dramatic turn for the worse at any time,” Director General Grossi said.

Whilst all reactors are now in cold shutdown, nuclear safety and security remains fragile. The new IAEA team will therefore continue to monitor the status of the plant against the seven indispensable pillars for nuclear safety and security as well as the five concrete principles to prevent a nuclear accident.

In particular, the team will focus its attention on the extent and effectiveness of ongoing maintenance activities, which are of paramount importance, especially considering the reduced level of maintenance performed at the site since the start of the conflict more than two years ago.

Maintenance activities on the electrical transformers of reactor unit 1 are ongoing, as are those on part of the safety systems of unit 2, which are expected to be completed by the end of April.

The IAEA team was also informed by the ZNPP that its radiation protection programme has been reviewed and is now aligned with the regulatory framework of the Russian Federation. The ZNPP said the radiation exposures to its staff had dropped significantly due to the site’s shutdown state and the absence of major maintenance performed on the six reactor units.

On Sunday, the team carried out a walkdown within the site perimeter. Monitoring adherence to the five concrete principles, the IAEA experts were able to confirm that there were no heavy weapons in the areas they visited. However, they still do not receive permission to visit all areas on site, especially the western side of the turbine halls, the ZNPP cooling pond isolation gate, and the 330 kilovolt (kV) open switchyard of the nearby Zaporizhzhya Thermal Power Plant (ZTPP).

Also over the past week, the IAEA experts visited the reactor building and containment of unit 2 to observe a routine swap of the cooling pumps for its spent fuel pool.

They also looked into the site’s water situation – challenged by last year’s destruction of the Kakhovka dam – and were informed that about 5000m³ of water are pumped from the discharge channel of the ZTPP to the ZNPP cooling pond per day. The 11 groundwater wells built after the dam was destroyed provide a similar amount of water each day for cooling of the reactor units and spent fuel.

Elsewhere in Ukraine, the IAEA teams present at the Khelmnytskyy, Rivne and South Ukraine NPPs and the Chornobyl site have reported that nuclear safety and security is being maintained despite the effects of the ongoing conflict, including air raid alarms on most days over the past week.

Scheduled maintenance and refuelling activities are progressing at two of the four reactor units at the Rivne NPP and one unit of the South Ukraine NPP. The Agency experts present at the Chornobyl site conducted a successful rotation on Wednesday.

The IAEA this week completed a separate mission to the Khelmnytskyy, Rivne and South Ukraine NPPs regarding the coordination of its continued presence activities at these sites and a follow-up to previous medical missions last year to support the staff at the nuclear facilities in Ukraine. 

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency – IAEA

All six reactor units of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) are now in cold shutdown for the first time since late 2022 after unit 4 reached this operational state early today, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said.

In line with the ZNPP’s plans, previously reported by the IAEA, the plant started transitioning unit 4 from hot to cold shutdown on Friday morning, a process that was completed at 7:30am today. It decided to take this step after the nearby town of Enerhodar – where most plant staff live – recently ended the winter heating season.

“I welcome this development which has been recommended by the Agency for some time, as it enhances the overall safety of the facility. The Agency will continue to closely follow the operational status of the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant and provide technically viable alternatives in a context of rapid changes and challenges,” Director General Grossi said.

The ZNPP stopped generating electricity for the national grid in September 2022, but it has kept at least one of its six units in hot shutdown since October 2022 to provide district heating as well as process steam for liquid waste treatment at the site.

After the plant earlier this year started operating four newly-installed diesel steam generators to produce steam for the treatment of such waste, as recommended by the IAEA, reactor unit 4 remained in hot shutdown primarily to help keep Enerhodar warm. The five other reactors were in cold shutdown, and have now been joined by unit 4.

When in cold shutdown, in case the heat removal is interrupted for any reason, there is an additional response margin of several days before the cooling of the nuclear fuel in the reactor might be challenged. The reactor also needs less cooling water than in hot shutdown, an issue that became more challenging after the destruction of the downstream Kakhovka dam in mid-2023.

Although the measure is positive for nuclear safety, the situation remains extremely fragile at a time when Europe’s largest nuclear power plant is facing severe dangers, with several drone strikes targeting the facility over the past week.

“The decision to have all six units in cold shutdown is positive in itself, as the cooling down of the reactor provides an additional buffer in case of an accident. But it doesn’t address the fundamental issue of a recent sharp deterioration of the situation at the plant. Without a doubt, nuclear safety and security at this major nuclear facility remains very precarious,” Director General Grossi said.

The potential risks were underlined again this morning, when the team of the IAEA experts stationed at the site reported hearing sixteen rounds of outgoing artillery fire in less than half an hour – some at near distance, others further away but still clearly audible.

Ukraine’s national regulator, the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine (SNRIU), has previously issued regulatory orders to limit the operation of all six units of the ZNPP to a cold shutdown state.

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency – IAEA

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was yesterday informed by Japan’s Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), operator of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (FDNPS), that localized corrosion and flaking of paint was discovered on three tanks used to store treated water at the site.

During a routine walkdown of the tanks emptied after transferring the water – the tanks used at FDNPS to store the ALPS (Advanced Liquid Processing System) treated water – TEPCO staff noted the corrosion and flaking on three tanks. These three tanks are currently empty, and an assessment determined that the corrosion bore no impact on the structural integrity of the tanks, and no water has leaked.  

The corrosion does not pose any safety risk, and there is no environmental impact. The event is not related to the discharge of the ALPS treated water. The damaged section will be repaired prior to using the tanks again to store ALPS treated water.

Japan’s Nuclear Regulatory Authority has been informed, and inspectors at the plant are conducting an on-site investigation.

The IAEA remains in contact with Nuclear Regulatory Authority in Japan.

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency – IAEA

Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi today called for maximum military restraint and full observance of the five concrete principles for protecting Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), days after a series of drone attacks had “significantly” increased the risk of a nuclear accident at the site.

Addressing an extraordinary meeting of the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Director General Grossi said it was of paramount importance to ensure that “these reckless attacks do not mark the beginning of a new and gravely dangerous front of the war”.

The IAEA Director General will address the United Nations Security Council in New York on Monday.

Today’s session of the 35-nation Board was convened by its Chair after he received two separate requests from the Russian Federation and Ukraine for such a meeting.

“I firmly appeal to military decision makers to abstain from any action violating the IAEA’s five concrete principles to prevent a nuclear accident and ensure the integrity of the plant and I urge the international community actively to work towards a de-escalation of what is a very serious situation,” Director General Grossi said in his opening statement.

The meeting was held less than a week after three drone strikes hit the site of the ZNPP, endangering nuclear safety and security and deepening concern about the already highly precarious situation at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant (NPP), located on the frontline of the armed conflict.

It was the first time since November 2022 that the ZNPP was directly targeted in military action. It also represented a clear violation of the five principles aimed at protecting the facility that were established by Director General Grossi at the United Nations Security Council in May last year and, he told the Board, “shifted us into an acutely consequential juncture in this war”.

Although the strikes – as well as others reported by the plant both before and after Sunday’s events – did not cause damage compromising nuclear safety and security at the ZNPP, they marked a “major escalation” of the dangers, Director General Grossi said.

Stressing that “no one can conceivably benefit or gain any military or political advantage” by attacking a nuclear power plant, he said:

“I urge you to make this your highest priority and to support me and the IAEA in doing everything in your power to stop this devastating war becoming unconscionably more dangerous through further attacks on the Zaporizhzhya NPP or any other nuclear power plant.”

At the site in southern Ukraine, the team of IAEA experts stationed there have continued to report about the frequent sound of military action, including numerous rounds of outgoing artillery fire from near the facility.

Despite the heightened military-related challenges in recent days, the IAEA experts have conducted walkdowns across the site over the past week, visiting the main control rooms of the six reactor units, the off-site radiation monitoring laboratory, as well as the site’s radioactive waste storage facility.

However, they were not granted access to parts of the turbine hall of unit 2 when they went to this reactor, nor to some parts of the waste facility, which meant they were not able to verify its current status. As reported previously, the ZNPP has not provided timely and appropriate access for the IAEA experts to all areas that are important to nuclear safety and security.

“In these extremely challenging circumstances, the presence of IAEA experts at the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant is more important than ever. Their impartial and technical work enables us to inform the world about events there in an independent and timely manner. In order to carry out these crucial tasks, they need prompt and unrestricted access to all areas that are important for nuclear safety and security,” Director General Grossi said.

Separately, the ZNPP informed the IAEA experts that it intends to start transitioning unit 4 to cold shutdown from tomorrow morning, after the nearby town of Enerhodar – where most plant staff live – officially ended the winter heating season.

The ZNPP stopped generating electricity for the national grid in September 2022, but it has kept at least one of its six units in hot shutdown to provide district heating as well as process steam for liquid waste treatment at the site.

After the plant earlier this year started operating four newly-installed diesel steam generators to handle such waste, as recommended by the IAEA, reactor unit 4 has remained in hot shutdown primarily to help keep Enerhodar warm. The five other reactors are in cold shutdown.

When in cold shutdown, in case the heat removal is interrupted, there is an additional response margin of several days before the cooling of the nuclear fuel in the reactor might be challenged. The reactor also needs less cooling water than in hot shutdown.

“Switching to cold shutdown is a positive step for nuclear safety and security, although one that is currently overshadowed by the great military dangers facing the plant,” Director General Grossi said.

The ZNPP separately informed the IAEA team that the plant – throughout the past week – once again had access to its only remaining back-up power line, which was lost in early April. The plant now has access to one of its four main 750 kilovolt (kV) power lines, as well as the last of six 330 kV back-up lines, which was disconnected for a few days.

Elsewhere in Ukraine, the IAEA experts at the Khmelnytskyy, Rivne and South Ukraine NPPs as well as at the Chornobyl site have reported that nuclear safety and security continues to be maintained, despite multiple air raid alarms that occurred over the past week. Units 1 and 4 at the Rivne NPP are in planned outage. The IAEA experts at the Khmelnytskyy NPP rotated on 8 April.

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency – IAEA

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was informed about a further drone attack on Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) today, in the latest indication of a major worsening of the nuclear safety and security situation at the site, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said.

The IAEA team of experts stationed at the plant – who verified the impact of several such attacks on Sunday – reported hearing bursts of rifle fire followed by a loud explosion at 11:05am local time today, the same time that the ZNPP later said an incoming drone had detonated on the roof of the facility’s training centre.

The incident added to deepening concern about the already highly precarious nuclear safety and security situation at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, which has been shelled several times since the conflict started in February 2022 and lost all off-site power eight times.

The training centre is located just outside the site perimeter, around half a kilometre from reactor unit 1, and the incident did not pose any threat to nuclear safety and security at the ZNPP, whose six reactors have all been shut down for the past 20 months. However, there are ZNPP staff routinely present in the training centre. The IAEA team requested immediate access to the building to assess the possible impact but was informed that the military security situation did not allow it. The team will continue to seek such access, as they did and received on Sunday.

“Today’s reported incident – although outside the site perimeter – is an ominous development as it indicates an apparent readiness to continue these attacks, despite the grave dangers they pose to nuclear safety and security and our repeated calls for military restraint. Whoever is behind them, they are playing with fire. Attacking a nuclear power plant is extremely irresponsible and dangerous, and it must stop,” Director General Grossi said.

Sunday’s drone strikes signalled a serious new threat to plant safety as it was the first time since November 2022 that the ZNPP was directly targeted in military action. It also represented the first clear violation of the five concrete principles for protecting the facility established by Director General Grossi at the United Nations Security Council in May last year.

In addition to the incidents on Sunday and today – which were backed up by the observations of the IAEA team – the Agency experts were also informed by the ZNPP about other similar events over the past few days. On Friday, the ZNPP said there had been a drone strike near the site’s oxygen and nitrogen production facility. On Sunday, the team heard explosions, in addition to those already reported, and were informed of two other alleged drone attacks outside the site perimeter, at the nearby port and at the training centre. Yesterday, the ZNPP said a drone had been shot down above the turbine hall building of reactor unit 6, without causing an explosion. In all cases, the IAEA team requested to visit these locations, but were denied access due to security reasons.

Reflecting the recent days’ severe turn for the worse at the site, Director General Grossi said he plans to brief the United Nations Security Council about the situation next week. It will be the seventh time he addresses the 15-nation body on the situation in Ukraine in just over two years.

“I remain determined to do everything in my power to prevent a major nuclear accident during this tragic war. At this moment of great danger, I will underline the seriousness of the situation in my address to the Security Council, whose support is of paramount importance for the IAEA’s persistent efforts to help prevent a major nuclear accident, with potential consequences for people and the environment in Ukraine and beyond,” he said.  

The IAEA experts have continued to hear the continuous sound of military activities near the plant over the past few days, including explosions, small arms fire as well as outgoing artillery fire from near the plant.

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency – IAEA

Drone strikes hit the site of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) today, in a serious incident that endangered nuclear safety and security, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said.

For the first time since November 2022, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant was directly targeted in military action that also represents a clear violation of the five basic principles for protecting the facility established by Director General Grossi at the United Nations Security Council in May last year. 

“This is a major escalation of the nuclear safety and security dangers facing the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant. Such reckless attacks significantly increase the risk of a major nuclear accident and must cease immediately,” Director General Grossi said.

At this point, there are no indications of damage to critical nuclear safety or security systems at the site. However, the military strikes were another stark reminder of persistent threats to the ZNPP and other nuclear facilities during the armed conflict, despite the IAEA’s efforts to reduce the risk of a severe accident that could harm people and the environment in Ukraine and beyond.

“As I have repeatedly stated – including at the Security Council and the IAEA Board of Governors – no one can conceivably benefit or get any military or political advantage from attacks against nuclear facilities. Attacking a nuclear power plant is an absolute no go,” he said. “I firmly appeal to military decision makers to abstain from any action violating the basic principles that protect nuclear facilities.”

After receiving information from the ZNPP about the drone attacks, the IAEA experts stationed at the site went to three affected locations. They were able to confirm the physical impact of the drone detonations, including at one of the site’s six reactor buildings where surveillance and communication equipment appeared to have been targeted. While they were at the roof of the reactor, unit 6, Russian troops engaged what appeared to be an approaching drone. This was followed by an explosion near the reactor building.

The IAEA team reported that they observed remnants of drones at this and two other impact locations at the site. At one of them, outside a laboratory, they saw blood stains next to a damaged military logistics vehicle, indicating at least one casualty.

The experts reported hearing explosions and rifle fire on the site throughout the day. Additionally, the IAEA team heard several rounds of outgoing artillery fire from near the plant.

While the team so far has not observed any structural damage to systems, structures, and components important to nuclear safety or security of the plant, they reported observing minor superficial scorching to the top of the reactor dome roof of Unit 6 and scoring of a concrete slab supporting the primary make-up water storage tanks.

“Although the damage at unit 6 has not compromised nuclear safety, this was a serious incident that had the potential to undermine the integrity of the reactor’s containment system,” Director General Grossi said.

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency – IAEA

Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) lost the connection to its only remaining back-up power line today amid renewed indications of military activity in the area, in yet another incident highlighting persistent nuclear safety and security risks during the conflict, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said today.

The IAEA experts stationed at the ZNPP reported that the sole remaining 330 kilovolt (kV) line was disconnected at 10:06am local time, leaving the plant entirely dependent on its sole remaining 750 kV line for off-site power. Before the conflict, the ZNPP had four 750 kV and six 330 kV power lines available.

The cause of the latest outage was not immediately clear, but it followed reports of military activity in the region and beyond. This was also confirmed by the IAEA team on the ground who heard numerous rounds of outgoing artillery fire this morning, as well as on Wednesday, when the firing of rockets was heard by the team. 

“As has happened repeatedly during this devastating war, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant has lost a key source of the electricity it needs to cool its reactors as well as for other essential nuclear safety and security functions. This morning’s developments once again underline the very real dangers facing this major facility,” Director General Grossi said.

Also before these latest events, the IAEA experts have continued to hear daily explosions over the past week, at various distances from the site.

Since August 2022, the ZNPP has suffered eight events with a complete loss of off-site power, most recently in December last year. The 330 kV line was also disconnected for three weeks earlier this year, but the main 750 kV line remained available at that time.

Separately today, Ukraine’s national regulator, the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine (SNRIU), informed the IAEA that a research and development facility in the country’s north-east – used before the war to produce radioisotopes for medical and industrial applications – had once again lost off-site power due to shelling. The facility now relies on emergency diesel generators, as it did during a previous week-long outage, from 22-29 March 2024. The on-site radiation situation is within the normal limits, SNRIU said.

The subcritical Neutron Source installation, located in the Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology (KIPT), was transferred to a deep sub-critical state at the start of the conflict, and its radioactive inventory is low. In November 2022, an IAEA safeguards and nuclear security expert mission found that the facility had been heavily damaged by shelling, but without any indication of radiological release or diversion of declared nuclear material.

“As this facility has been shut down since the start of the armed conflict more than two years ago, we do not currently expect the situation to have any consequences for public safety. But it also underlines the potential risks to nuclear safety and nuclear security during the military conflict and we will continue to monitor the situation at the facility,” Director General Grossi said.

Earlier this week at the ZNPP, the IAEA team was informed that the plant was assessing the future operational status of its only heat-generating unit after the nearby town of Enerhodar – where most plant staff live – officially ended the winter heating season.

The ZNPP stopped producing electricity for the national grid in September 2022, but it has kept at least one of its six units in hot shutdown to provide district heating as well as process steam for liquid waste treatment at the site. After the plant earlier this year started operating four newly-installed diesel steam generators to handle such waste, reactor unit 4 has remained in hot shutdown primarily to help keep Enerhodar warm. The five other reactors are in cold shutdown.

This week, however, the IAEA experts stationed at the site were informed that on 1 April, Enerhodar decided to end its heating season for 2023-24 and shut down its own local heat generation, prompting the ZNPP to also re-consider the situation regarding unit 4.

“A decision to move unit 4 to cold shutdown would be more favourable for nuclear safety and security, but it should not detract from the fact that the situation at the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant remains highly precarious, as this morning’s power loss once again demonstrated,” Director General Grossi said.

The IAEA team this week continued to conduct walkdowns at the site, including to some of the reactor units as well as the ZNPP inlet and discharge channels, where they also observed the cooling towers and their pumping station.

At the waterworks facilities, the team was informed that the ZNPP cooling pond currently receives approximately 400 m³/h of water from the sprinkler ponds as well as from the discharge channel of the nearby Zaporizhzhya Thermal Power Plant. The water supplied from the eleven underground wells is providing enough cooling water for the six units in shutdown, but still not enough to maintain the water inventory in the ZNPP cooling pond.

During a visit to the unit 4 reactor building the team observed the chemical analysis laboratory and the safety system rooms. No leaks or traces of boric acid were seen. But the experts noted what appeared to be some crystallised boric acid in one of the sump intakes during a visit to unit 1 sumps for the ECCS (Emergency Core Cooling System). Borated water is used in the primary coolant to help maintain nuclear safety functions. Although leaks may occur, prompt investigation, repair, and clean-up are crucial to prevent potential damage to any system important to nuclear safety.

During the walkdowns over the past week, the experts were not granted access to the cooling pond isolation gate, a location the IAEA last saw in November 2023, nor to the western part of the turbine hall of unit 6. As reported previously, the ZNPP has not provided timely and appropriate access for the IAEA experts to all areas that are important to nuclear safety and security.

The IAEA teams at the Khmelnytskyy, Rivne and South Ukraine NPPs as well as at the Chornobyl site reported that nuclear safety and security continues to be maintained, despite multiple air raid alarms over the past week. Maintenance in the unit 2 turbine hall at the Khmelnytskyy NPP has been completed and the reactor has returned to nominal power. Unit 4 at the Rivne NPP remains in planned outage. The IAEA experts at the South Ukraine and Rivne NPPs rotated during this past week.

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency – IAEA

An International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) team of experts completed a nuclear security mission at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power station (KKNPS) in Japan today, which was carried out at the request of the country’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO). The nine-day mission, conducted from 25 March to 2 April 2024, aimed to assess the enhancement of the physical protection measures at the KKNPS, Japan’s largest nuclear facility with seven reactors, and to provide further advice as necessary to the facility’s operator.

A physical protection system comprises people, procedures and equipment to provide defence in depth to address threats and to protect against both unauthorized removal of nuclear material and sabotage of nuclear material or facilities.

The five-person team assessed and observed physical protection measures against the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material as amended, and relevant IAEA Nuclear Security Guidance documents. They visited the KKNPS in Niigata Prefecture, Japan, and met with staff of the facility’s operator, TEPCO. The team included experts from Finland, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, as well as one IAEA staff member.

The team observed the facility management’s commitment to improving nuclear security and identified continuous improvements in several areas of the KKNPS physical protection system since 2018, when the IAEA conducted an International Physical Protection Advisory Service (IPPAS) Follow-up Mission in Japan, including a site visit at KKNPS. Most of the improvements have been completed, and some requiring significant resources and time to complete are either under implementation or planned to be implemented. The team provided TEPCO recommendations and suggestions for further improvements.

“Critical infrastructure, such as nuclear facilities, requires robust physical protection measures, as part of a national nuclear security regime supported by a legislative and regulatory framework and nuclear security culture,” said Elena Buglova, Director of the IAEA’s Division of Nuclear Security. “The IAEA expert missions are intended to assist the requesting States in establishing and further strengthening their national nuclear security regimes, including the physical protection against theft, sabotage or unauthorized use of nuclear and other radioactive material.”

“The findings provided by the experts of the Expert Mission team are very important and will be used further to enhance nuclear security of our plant in line with the IAEA international standards. Based on the advice given by the IAEA experts, TEPCO is committed to continuously improve our security measures by establishing a strong security culture to sustain this current security enhancement effort and prevent it from declining again in the future. Also, we will further strengthen the prevention measures against internal threat and continue our improvement aiming towards a better physical protection system, including intrusion detection. This Expert Mission has also provided us a great opportunity to learn about international good practices. We will continue to improve towards a plant, which our local region can trust and feel safe about,” said KKNPS Superintendent Takeyuki Inagaki of TEPCO.

The team presented its draft report of findings to TEPCO. The final report will be ready in the next few weeks. 

Background

The KKNPS houses seven boiling water reactors with a total gross electrical capacity of 8212 MW(e). It is located between Kashiwazaki City and Kariwa Village on the coast of the Sea of Japan of the Niigata Prefecture. Since 2012, the plant has been offline, after the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi accident led to the shutdown of all nuclear plants in Japan.

In 2014, Japan accepted the 2005 Amendment to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material (CPPNM). The CPPNM establishes legal obligations for Parties regarding the physical protection of nuclear material used for peaceful purposes. The Amendment strengthens the original CPPNM by establishing States’ obligations to protect nuclear facilities and material in peaceful domestic use, storage and transport.

The responsibility for nuclear security within a State rests entirely with the State. The IAEA provides support on nuclear security, upon request from Member States, by offering peer review missions and advisory services, guidance documents, e-learning courses, training courses and workshops. The IAEA conducted an IPPAS mission in Japan in 2015 and a follow-up IPPAS mission in 2018.

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency – IAEA

The conflict is continuing to endanger nuclear safety and security in Ukraine, with military activity taking place near the country’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) in the south, air raid alarms sounding at several sites, and shelling knocking out off-site power at a research facility in the north-east, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said today.

“For more than two years now, nuclear safety and security in Ukraine has been in constant jeopardy. We remain determined to do everything we can to help minimize the risk of a nuclear accident that could harm people and the environment, not only in Ukraine,” Director General Grossi said.

“So far, we have managed to stabilise the situation but, as we have seen again this past week, nuclear safety and security in Ukraine remains extremely vulnerable. We cannot afford to let our guard down at any time,” he said.

At the ZNPP, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant (NPP), the IAEA experts stationed at the site have continued to hear explosions every day over the past week, at different distances from the plant. Several times, the sounds appeared to come from near the site, presumably from outgoing artillery fire, the experts said. Nearby small arms fire was heard during the night of 22 March, and again yesterday. In addition, an air raid alarm went off at the site yesterday, delaying the IAEA team’s planned visit to the ZNPP’s dry spent fuel facility until later in the day.

Despite such challenges, the IAEA team has continued to conduct regular walkdowns across the site over the past week, including a visit to the reactor building of unit 5 to observe the water level in the spent fuel pool, the operation of spent fuel cooling pumps, two steam generators and the safety systems rooms. No leaks of fluid or traces of boric acid were observed. The team also saw operating pumps and other equipment in the turbine hall of unit 4, observed the testing of an emergency diesel generator in the same unit, and visited electrical rooms of the safety systems in units 4 and 5.

Throughout the walkdowns conducted over the past week, the IAEA team did not observe any concerns related to nuclear safety. However, the ZNPP has still not provided timely and appropriate access for the IAEA experts to all areas that are important to nuclear safety and security, including some parts of the turbine halls, the isolation gate of the ZNPP cooling pond and the 330 kV open switchyard at the nearby Zaporizhzhia Thermal Power Plant. The IAEA is aware of social media reports and images related to the presence of troops and vehicles inside one of the turbine halls at the ZNPP. The presence of such vehicles in ZNPP turbine halls has been reported in previous updates by the Director General.

The maintenance activities on parts of the safety system of unit 1 have not yet resumed after the ZNPP decided to postpone them again last week. However, other scheduled maintenance work is being performed elsewhere at the ZNPP.

The IAEA experts were informed that the ZNPP has begun draining one of the sprinkler ponds of unit 5 in order to clean it, which is expected to take around three weeks, after which a sprinkler pond of unit 6 will also be cleaned. The two units are among the five at the ZNPP which are in cold shutdown, while reactor unit 4 is in hot shutdown to generate steam for heating.  

In the north-eastern city of Kharkiv, on 22 March, a research and development facility used, up until the start of the war, to produce radioisotopes for medical and industrial applications lost its external power due to shelling, according to the Ukrainian nuclear regulator. The facility now relies on emergency diesel generators. Additionally, the IAEA was informed that all on-site radiation levels remain normal.

The subcritical Neutron Source installation, located in the Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology (KIPT), was transferred to a deep sub-critical state at the start of the conflict, and its radioactive inventory is low. In November 2022, an IAEA safeguards and nuclear security expert mission found that the facility had been heavily damaged by shelling, but without any indication of radiological release or diversion of declared nuclear material.

“Due to the nature of this facility, which has been shutdown since the start of the armed conflict, we do not currently anticipate a situation that could have any implications to public safety. But, clearly, leaving a nuclear installation without off-site power is not normal and once again demonstrates the risks from this war to nuclear safety. We will continue to monitor the situation at the facility,” Director General Grossi said.

The IAEA experts at the Khmelnytskyy, Rivne and South Ukraine NPPs as well as at the Chornobyl site have reported that nuclear safety and security continues to be maintained, despite multiple air raid alarms over the past week. Maintenance in the turbine hall of unit 2 at the Khmelnytskyy NPP is progressing well, and unit 4 at the Rivne NPP is in planned outage. The IAEA experts at the Chornobyl site were rotated this week.

The IAEA continued to deliver equipment needed to maintain nuclear safety and security in Ukraine. This week, the Rivne NPP received a portable X-ray device for non-destructive testing at the site that was procured with funding from the United Kingdom. It was the 42nd delivery of equipment to Ukraine since the start of the conflict, with such assistance now totalling more than 9 million euro.

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency – IAEA