On the first day of work of the 67th session of the IAEA General Conference, on September 25, the Ukrainian delegation led by Minister of Energy Herman Halushchenko held several important meetings.
In particular, Herman Halushchenko together with President of SE "NNEGC "Energoatom" Petro Kotin met with General Administrator of the French Atomic Energy Commission François Jacq. Minister of Energy of Ukraine thanked France for the assistance provided to the Ukrainian energy sector, which was of great importance last winter, in the conditions of constant shelling of the energy infrastructure by the enemy.
In turn, Petro Kotin informed the French side about the current situation at the temporarily occupied Zaporizhzhya NPP, which, according to him, is getting worse and needs an immediate response from the world community: "To prevent an accident at the ZNPP, the civilized world must force the russians to comply with the 7 indispensable pillars of nuclear safety and security and leave the Ukrainian power plant."
Furthermore, representatives of the Ukrainian delegation took part in the EURATOM event "Nuclear Safety at a Time of War: Capabilities, Coordination and Assistance to Ukraine", which included a presentation of assistance to Ukraine. The regulators of the United States of America, United Kingdom, Canada, etc. spoke about the provided and planned assistance to Ukraine and about cooperation with the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine.
Herman Halushchenko also had the opportunity to speak at the plenary session of the General Conference, where he emphasized that russia's actions in relation to Ukrainian nuclear facilities not only threaten the world with a nuclear disaster but also destroy all the achievements of civilization in the development of atomic energy and challenge the future of the industry.
During the 67th session of the IAEA General Conference, President of Energoatom held a meeting with the management of the French electric power company EDF (Électricité de France), at which the parties discussed issues of cooperation and the possibility of implementing new joint projects, in particular regarding the introduction of small modular reactors.
The members of the Ukrainian delegation also met with representatives of the U.S. civil nuclear industry companies, in particular the long-term strategic partners of Energoatom – Westinghouse and NuScale.
During the meeting, Herman Halushchenko reported on the need to impose tough sanctions against the russian nuclear industry and diversify sources of nuclear fuel supply for Ukrainian nuclear power plants, in particular VVER-440 reactors.
Petro Kotin briefed the partners about the situation at the Zaporizhzhya NPP seized by russian armed groups and the need for the intervention of the entire world community in order to de-occupy Europe's largest nuclear power plant as soon as possible and return it to full control of the only legitimate operator – Energoatom.
In turn, the American partners assured of unceasing support for Ukraine in the face of armed military aggression and readiness to continue implementing joint projects, in particular, related to the construction of new power units in Ukraine.
The work of the Ukrainian delegation on the sidelines of the 67th session of the IAEA General Conference is ongoing!
As a reminder, the Ukrainian delegation includes President of SE "NNEGC "Energoatom" Petro Kotin, Acting Chairman of the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine Oleh Korikov, and First Deputy Chairman of the State Agency of Ukraine on Exclusion Zone Management Andriy Tymchuk.
Among the priority topics of the session are the activities of the IAEA in the field of nuclear and physical security as well as increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of the Agency's guarantees. In particular, a substantive discussion of the issues of nuclear safety and guarantees in Ukraine is planned.
For our country, participation in the event is crucial in order to once again draw the attention of the international community to the state of nuclear and radiation safety in Ukraine during the war, in particular to the situation at the ZNPP.
