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STORY: IAEA / GROSSI BOARD OF GOVERNORS
TRT: 4:07
SOURCE: IAEA
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 30 JANUARY 2026, VIENNA, AUSTRIA
1. Various shots, conference room
2.SOUNDBITE (English) Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA):
“On the ZNPP the latest, as you know, is that over past months, I have negotiated, together with Ukrainian and Russian counterparts, four separate temporary ceasefire agreements between both sides, for five separate repairs of power lines connected to the plant. Most recently, on Monday, 19 January, Ukraine’s ZNPP was reconnected to its last remaining backup power line after successful repairs were completed under the latest temporary ceasefire. This 330-kilovolt (kV) backup line had been damaged and disconnected since 2 January, reportedly because of military activity.”
3. Various shots, conference room
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA):
“IAEA teams continue to monitor ZNPP’s ability to deal with winter conditions, including in keeping water in the cooling pond and sprinkler ponds from freezing. I once again restate the need to abide by the Five Principles to avoid a nuclear accident at the ZNPP by making all efforts to avoid future damage to these lines, which could fatally affect the plant.”
5. Various shots, conference room
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA):
“The offsite power supply to the nuclear power plants in Ukraine depends on crucial substations. Damage to them undermines nuclear safety and must be avoided. This stems from the internationally agreed nuclear safety standards. In addition to IAEA teams being stationed at the 5 Nuclear Power Plants in Ukraine, our teams have also been on missions to assess the impact on nuclear safety of the situation at electrical substations. The IAEA will, as a priority, continue to assess the functionality of these substations, within the parameters of its mandate.”
7. Various shots, conference room
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA):
“As we speak, an IAEA expert mission is underway at Ukraine’s electrical substations amid ongoing strikes on the country’s power infrastructure. The mission will assess 10 substations crucial to nuclear safety. It is following up on some of the sites visited in December 2025 and examining additional sites not previously assessed. Elsewhere in Ukraine, IAEA teams have reported military activities within proximity of nuclear power plants, including the Chornobyl NPP site, where they damaged a critical substation.”
9. Various shots, conference room
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA):
“We are all, of course, extremely concerned by the ongoing war, and here at the IAEA, by its impact on nuclear safety. We have demonstrated, from the start, how it is possible to make good use of an international institution like the IAEA to prevent escalation and provide certain stability and predictability in the inevitably fluctuating scenario of an ongoing war. This requires focus, compromise, and a sense of responsibility.”
11. Various shots, conference room
IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said, “the conflict in Ukraine is about to enter its fifth year. It continues to pose the world’s biggest threat to nuclear safety.”
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi delivered his introductory remarks at the opening of the Board of Governors meeting today (30 Jan) at the Agency headquarters in Vienna, Austria.
On the latest of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), Grossi said that over the past months, he has negotiated together with Ukrainian and Russian counterparts, four separate temporary ceasefire agreements between both sides, for five separate repairs of power lines connected to the plant.
“Most recently, on Monday, 19 January, Ukraine’s ZNPP was reconnected to its last remaining backup power line after successful repairs were completed under the latest temporary ceasefire. This 330-kilovolt (kV) backup line had been damaged and disconnected since 2 January, reportedly because of military activity,” the IAEA Director General said.
He added, “IAEA teams continue to monitor ZNPP’s ability to deal with winter conditions, including in keeping water in the cooling pond and sprinkler ponds from freezing.”
The Director General once again restated the need to abide by the Five Principles to “avoid a nuclear accident at the ZNPP by making all efforts to avoid future damage to these lines, which could fatally affect the plant.”
Grossi also said, “The offsite power supply to the nuclear power plants in Ukraine depends on crucial substations. Damage to them undermines nuclear safety and must be avoided. This stems from the internationally agreed nuclear safety standards.”
In addition to IAEA teams being stationed at the 5 Nuclear Power Plants in Ukraine, the Agency’s teams have also been on missions to assess the impact on nuclear safety of the situation at electrical substations, the Director General said.
He reiterated, “The IAEA will, as a priority, continue to assess the functionality of these substations, within the parameters of its mandate.”
Grossi also noted that an IAEA expert mission is currently underway at Ukraine’s electrical substations amid ongoing strikes on the country’s power infrastructure.
“The mission will assess 10 substations crucial to nuclear safety. It is following up on some of the sites visited in December 2025 and examining additional sites not previously assessed,” he explained.
Elsewhere in Ukraine, IAEA teams have reported military activities within proximity of nuclear power plants, including the Chornobyl NPP site, where they damaged a critical substation,” the IAEA chief said.
Grossi said he is “extremely concerned” by the ongoing war and its impact on nuclear safety.
“We have demonstrated, from the start, how it is possible to make good use of an international institution like the IAEA to prevent escalation and provide certain stability and predictability in the inevitably fluctuating scenario of an ongoing war. This requires focus, compromise, and a sense of responsibility,” the Director General concluded.
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