International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi while on his visit to Ukraine’s Kyivska substation and said, nuclear energy has been the backbone that has sustained Ukraine’s economy through the hardest any country can have, which is war.
Grossi, who is in Ukraine to assess damage to key electricity infrastructure that is critical to the country’s nuclear safety, said, “the focus of his visit is to see and to assess personally the situation at the substations.
He said the substation at Kyivska has a strategic value, and it has been damaged quite significantly,” and noted that a protective shelter is being built and replacement transformers are going to be put into operation.

Grossi noted that the IAEA is assessing nine stations that are “critical” for “the safe functioning of the nuclear power plants,” and said, “the situation is quite dire” as the infrastructure “has been degraded.”
The IAEA Director General pointed out that “a nuclear accident can come with a direct attack on a nuclear power plant, but it can also be the result of a disruption in the power grid; adding that if the substation is affected or is prevented from operating in a normal way there would be serious issues.
Grossi spoke about the new nuclear power plants being built in the Cherkasy region to replace capacity lost due to the war.
In Khmelnytskyi the construction of the protective shelter He said, had started for some units, pointing out that some were almost at complete stage while 2 were just beginning.
Grossi is to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss the provided safety assessment.
This is the 11th mission to Ukraine led personally by the Director General since the conflict began almost three years ago.
Grossi was accompanied by Minister of Energy of Ukraine Herman Galushchenko and Energoatom Chairman Petro Kotin.
Among the IAEA delegation were Massimo Aparo, IAEA Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Safeguards, and Lydie Evrard, IAEA Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Nuclear Safety and Security.