IAEA supports completion of Khmelnytskyi NPP
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) supports Ukraine's desire to complete the construction of two nuclear power units at the Khmelnytskyi NPP and considers it a wise and timely decision for Ukraine.
This was announced by the Agency's Director General Rafael Grossi during his visit to Ukraine, Censor.NET reports citing UNIAN.
"We believe that in the case of Ukraine, this is a wise decision, because, as we see today, nuclear energy has become the backbone that supported the country's economy during a very difficult period, the most difficult that any country can go through - the war," Grossi said.
He noted that Khmelnytskyi NPP units are at a high level of readiness and significant efforts and investments have already been made there.
During the meeting with IAEA Director General Grossi, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy also emphasized the importance of completing the power units and called on the Parliament to make the necessary decisions as soon as possible.
"Today we talked about two units that can be added to our nuclear generation. This will really be a great contribution to the stability of the country's energy system. And now the ball is, you know, in the court of the Ukrainian parliament. We are united here with the IAEA that parliamentarians should make a decision very quickly. We have such an opportunity to provide Ukraine with two additional units," the President said.
The IAEA Director General also emphasized that the Agency is ready to provide the necessary technical support in the implementation of the project and has already started working in this direction.
"The Agency is certainly ready, and we have already started some analytical work on specific areas where we could provide a safety assessment of this project," the IAEA Director General said.
As a reminder, Khmelnytskyi NPP Unit 3 is 80% ready, Unit 4 is 25% ready.
In April, the Ukrainian government approved the project to complete the plant. According to the government's plans, Unit 3 will be connected to the grid in just 3 years.
