Ukraine, the first IAEA assistance mission is underway

A delegation of experts on nuclear safety, led by the director general of the IAEA, Rafael Mariano Grossi, arrived in Ukraine yesterday. Today, the team will travel to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant to provide equipment, conduct radiological assessments and restore safeguards monitoring systems.

The mission was organized thanks to RANET (Response and Assistance NETwork), the network which, created by the IAEA and aimed at implementing the Convention on International Assistance, made it possible to provide the support that Ukraine needs.

"Now we can see how important, how essential it was, is, and will be to have such a system, which helps the IAEA and its Member States provide the assistance that they need on such occasions" commented Grossi yesterday during the first International Conference on nuclear law in Vienna.

The arrival of the delegation of experts in Chernobyl takes place on the occasion of the 36th anniversary of the nuclear accident which, on the night between 25 and 26 April 1986, shook the whole world.

Photo: IAEA