IAEA Mission Begins Operation at Chernobyl NPP — Director General

On January 13, Grossi announced that he will come to Ukraine, adding that the agency plans to permanently keep about 11-12 experts in the country

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi (С) REUTERS/Gleb Garanich

© REUTERS/Gleb Garanich

VIENNA, January 18. /TASS/. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General announced that the Agency’s mission has commenced its work at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine.

"[The IAEA] continues to expand its presence in #Ukraine. Today, I launched the IAEA Support and Assistance Mission in Chornobyl (#ISAMICH). Our experts will stay at all [Ukrainian] NPPs to provide vital nuclear safety & security assistance in these extremely difficult and challenging times," Grossi tweeted Wednesday.

On January 13, Grossi announced that he will come to Ukraine, adding that the agency plans to permanently keep about 11-12 experts in the country. Meanwhile, Rosenergoatom CEO advisor Renat Karchaa told TASS that the IAEA made the decision to send its experts to Ukrainian nuclear power plants too late. According to Karchaa, there is information and grounds to believe that an illegal leak of fission material from these facilities has already happened.

On Monday, Grossi announced the creation of an IAEA mission to the Southern Ukraine NPP, and on Tuesday, he announced a similar mission to the Rovno NPP.