International Atomic Energy Agency Conducts Emergency Inspection of Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant

Radiation Monitoring and Security System Inspection Underway
Concerns Over Fallout from Large-Scale Russian Missile Strikes

The Chernobyl nuclear power plant in a devastated state after the explosion.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Junran] The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) urgently dispatched experts and conducted safety inspections in the Chernobyl nuclear power plant area in Ukraine, where the worst nuclear power plant explosion accident in history occurred.

According to the IAEA on the 28th (local time), nuclear power plant safety experts recently visited the Chernobyl nuclear power plant area in Ukraine for a week, inspecting the plant's security facilities and internal operating systems. It is known that they also carried out radiation monitoring and performance improvement work. The IAEA stated, "We have completed inspection activities not only for the nuclear power plant facilities but also for the surrounding 'exclusion zone,'" and added, "We expect this to have helped improve nuclear power plant security in a situation where risks remain."

The Chernobyl nuclear power plant experienced the worst nuclear explosion accident in history in April 1986. Currently, all reactors have been shut down, and spent nuclear fuel is stored in cooling facilities. The 30 km radius area remains a specially managed exclusion zone where public access is restricted.

The Chernobyl nuclear power plant is located about 100 km north of Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. Shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine, Russian forces occupied the plant but withdrew at the end of March, allowing Ukraine to regain control of the facility.

The IAEA, after dispatching nuclear security experts to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which had been continuously damaged by shelling, has now conducted an emergency inspection of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which has not been operational since 2000. This is interpreted as a response to concerns over the recent large-scale missile attacks by Russian forces. As infrastructure destruction has been occurring across Ukraine, it was judged that safety management issues at the Chernobyl plant could not be neglected.

Ukraine has already requested security inspections for three other nuclear power plants?Rivne, South Ukraine, and Khmelnytskyi?in addition to the Zaporizhzhia plant, where IAEA security personnel are already stationed. The IAEA announced plans to send experts soon.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.