The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has launched a new mission to review 14 electrical substations in Ukraine that are critically important for the safety of nuclear facilities. These substations ensure the stable operation of nuclear power plants and were targeted by Russian attacks during the winter period.
This is reported by Finway
Review of Energy Infrastructure and IAEA Mission
According to Ukraine’s First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy, Denys Shmyhal, this inspection is the seventh of its kind. The previous IAEA mission took place earlier this year, and now agency experts will visit the 14 high-voltage substations again to assess their condition.
“IAEA has sent another mission to assess the condition of Ukraine’s electrical substations that ensure the stable operation of nuclear power plants. This is already the seventh such mission, with the previous one occurring earlier this year,” Shmyhal wrote.
Threat to Nuclear Safety in Europe
Assessing the condition of these facilities allows for an increase in nuclear safety and the resilience of the Ukrainian energy system. As the Minister of Energy emphasized, Russia sought to destroy the substations in winter, which could have led to critical consequences for nuclear power plants and posed a threat to nuclear safety across Europe.
Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the Russian Federation has carried out 155 attacks on substations that are critical for maintaining nuclear safety. Additionally, since February 2022, there have been at least 127 incidents that created risks for nuclear and radiation safety. In particular, Ukrainian nuclear power plants have been without external power supply 23 times, and there have been 25 instances of direct shelling—by drones, artillery, and missiles—on the industrial sites of nuclear power plants or in their immediate vicinity.