IAEA sees no signs of Russian preparations to restart ZNPP – Grossi
At the same time, the IAEA Director General emphasized the lack of conditions for the start of operation of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) sees no signs of large-scale preparatory work by Russia before the launch of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, as alleged in a recent Greenpeace report.
This was stated by IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi during a briefing at the Ministry of Energy on June 3, Ministry of Energy reports.
"We are observing satellite images of this region and we do not agree with what was stated in this report, namely that there is massive preparatory work and construction going on there, that they are very serious there, building a line. Something is happening there, but we do not agree with what came out in the report," said Rafael Grossi.
At the same time, he emphasized that from the IAEA's point of view, "the first and most important thing is the safety conditions that must be met in the event of any restart of the plant's power units, and currently such conditions have not been met."
In turn, Energy Minister Herman Galushchenko denied the possibility of an uncontrolled launch of the ZNPP and emphasized the possibility of the plant starting operation only under the control of Ukraine, provided that all safety standards, which must be confirmed by the IAEA, are observed.
"I am sure that there will be no launch without control. There are a lot of technical issues here that are obstacles to the launch. But what Rafael said now seems to me to be key. In fact, the IAEA must recognize that all the necessary nuclear and radiation safety standards have been met for the launch. And, accordingly, restarting the station in compliance with such requirements is possible only by Ukrainian personnel and under the control of Ukraine," Galushchenko noted.
Rafael Grossi added that the possibility of partial or full launch of the ZNPP should be discussed very seriously from a technical point of view.
"I want to emphasize once again that we will have very serious technical, precisely technical, discussions of technical issues in connection with the possible launch - in full or in part - of 1-2 units. But, as the Minister said, and as I said before, there are certain safety conditions that must be met in order to start talking about any restart at all, and that is a long time away," the head of the IAEA explained.
As a reminder, according to a Greenpeace Ukraine report, Russian attempts to lay a new power line for the illegal restart of the Zheleznodorozhny NPP have become apparent. Relevant work is ongoing in the occupied Ukrainian territories.
On May 28, 2025, Ukraine sent a verbal note to the IAEA, in which it condemned the Russian Federation's obvious intentions to arbitrarily resume the operation of the Zaporizhzhia NPP.
As "Ukrainian Energy" reported, yesterday, June 3, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi arrived in Ukraine. He met with Energy Minister Herman Galushchenko and President Volodymyr Zelensky.
