Published on: 2026-06-10
Source: United Nations – United Nations –
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A group of experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is monitoring the demining operations carried out before the start of repairs to the main power supply line of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP). Work began several days after the intensification of military actions, which continue to threat nuclear safety.
The presence of the MAGATE team is necessary to maintain the ceasefire regime, which was achieved through the mediation of the agency and came into force on Friday. The General Director of MAGATE, Rafael Mariano Grossi, informed the Board of Governors of the agency about this on the eve.
Power line repair
Russian Federation and Ukraineagreed on a temporary local ceasefire– the sixth such agreement, reached with the assistance of the IAEA at the end of last year. This will allow, in the coming days, after the demining of the territory, to start repair work on the 750 kV power transmission line “Dneprovskaya,” which has been disconnected since March 24, 2026. Currently, the station depends on the only external reserve power transmission line with a capacity of 330 kV “Ferroalloy-1.”
As Grossi reported, the IAEA experts are observing the demining as part of the new phase of the agreed procedure – after several Russian servicemen were reportedly injured on Friday during the demining process, according to available data.
In the past two weeks, the MAGATE team at ZAES has been receiving information about ongoing military activity near the facility. On May 30, experts reported a drone strike on the turbine hall of power unit No. 6. The team recorded a breach in the wall and localized damage to the metal cladding of an empty pipe a few meters from the impact site.
Drone attack near the Chernobyl site
Military activity is reported by the IAEA groups deployed at the three operating NPPs of Ukraine – Khmelnytskyi, Rivne, and South Ukraine. At the Chernobyl site, agency experts have also repeatedly heard gunfire.
On Sunday, the situation in the Chernobyl site area escalated: a drone struck the centralized spent nuclear fuel storage facility located in the exclusion zone, just a few hundred meters from the fuel containers.
Speaking before the Board of Governors on Monday, Grossi reported that the attack caused significant structural damage to part of the building, including the IAEA office. At the same time, the radiation level at the site remained within the norm.
“An attack on a facility with a large amount of nuclear material is extremely dangerous. This must not happen,” emphasized the head of the IAEA. It is still unclear when the storage site will be able to accept spent nuclear fuel again from the operating nuclear power plants of Ukraine.
Technical assistance program
Despite the difficult situation, the IAEA continues to deliver within the framework of its comprehensive assistance program to Ukraine.
Last week, equipment and other materials were handed over to the Kharkiv Physical-Technical Institute, as well as to the National Scientific Center for Radiation Medicine.
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