Category: IAEA

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) –

The IAEA team at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) yesterday observed smoke while in the plant’s administrative building where its office is located, following reports of fire near the cooling towers, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said today.

There was no impact to nuclear safety at the plant, no casualties were reported and, using IAEA monitoring equipment, the team members found no increase in radiation levels. During a walkdown today, the team observed burnt trees close to the cooling towers.

The team continues to investigate the event as part of its ongoing monitoring of nuclear safety and security at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant (NPP).

The IAEA team has been informed of multiple instances of shelling in the industrial zone next to the plant over the past week. The shelling was reported to have occurred close to the ZNPP, approximately 1.2 kilometres away from the site perimeter. While it did not have any direct impact on nuclear safety of the plant, the IAEA team at the ZNPP continue to hear military activities every day.

Over the past two weeks, the IAEA staff at the ZNPP have continued to monitor the site’s cooling water systems. The ZNPP’s six reactors have been in cold shutdown since spring 2024 but still require cooling water for their safety systems, reactor cores, and spent fuel pools. The ZNPP’s external power situation remains vulnerable, with the plant having lost the connection to its last remaining 330 kV back-up power line on 7 May, leaving it dependent on its sole 750 kV line.

The team received technical updates on water distribution across the site, including how water is fed to its nuclear safety and support systems. The team noted the increasing challenges of ensuring a reliable cooling water supply for the six reactors and their safety systems in their cold shutdown state, especially under current hot weather conditions, when the evaporation rate is high.

During the week, the ZNPP updated the IAEA team on maintenance activities at the plant. While no maintenance work is currently taking place inside the containment of any of the plant’s six reactors, the ZNPP said routine servicing is being carried out in non-reactor areas, including the turbine halls and transformers. Maintenance on two safety trains from different units is also ongoing.

Separately, the IAEA teams present to monitor nuclear safety and security at Ukraine’s operating NPPs — Khmelnytskyy, Rivne and South Ukraine NPPs – and the Chornobyl NPP site reported hearing air raid alarms nearly every day over the past week. At the Khmelnytskyy NPP, the team had to shelter on Monday.

Three of the total nine units at Ukraine’s operating NPPs at Khmelnytskyy, Rivne and South Ukraine remain in shutdown for refuelling and maintenance, including necessary maintenance on off-site power lines.

The IAEA team at the Chornobyl NPP was informed that the site plans to start temporary repair work on the New Safe Confinement (NSC) in autumn 2025. The NSC, built to prevent any radioactive release from the reactor unit 4 destroyed in the 1986 accident and to protect it from external hazards, was severely damaged by a drone in February 2025. The IAEA team was informed that the Ukrainian State regulator, SNRIU, is reviewing the documentation related to the repairs. The IAEA will support Ukraine’s efforts to repair the NSC, under the framework of a Memorandum of Understanding signed during the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2025, held in Rome at the beginning of July 2025.

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) –

Entries for the IAEA infographic design contest for young professionals aged 18 to 35 to raise awareness about emergency preparedness and response  in nuclear and radiological contexts can now be submitted until 31 August 2025.

Submissions should be compelling, original infographics inspired by the IAEA’s emergency preparedness and response (EPR) publications. Participating youth are encouraged to turn complex EPR concepts into engaging visuals to enhance public understanding and policy dialogue on EPR. Submissions will be judged on visual clarity, technical accuracy, originality, relevance to the conference themes, and overall impact.

“Explore IAEA’s EPR publications, which are filled with essential guidance for emergency professionals and the public. Unleash your creativity, win prizes, and gain recognition by joining our Youth Infographic Contest for EPR2025,” advised Carlos Torres Vidal, Director of the IAEA’s Incident and Emergency Centre and Scientific Secretary of the Conference, to young people seeking to enter the contest.

“We want to see how this knowledge can be brought to life—taken off the page and transformed into clear, accessible visuals that help people understand the principles of emergency preparedness and response. This supports the aim of the EPR2025 conference: to ensure that emergency preparedness is ready to meet the evolving challenges of the future,” he added.

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) –

The meeting was attended by health professionals from a wide spectrum of disciplines and professions involving the medical use of ionizing radiation, as well as regulators, educators and researchers from 35 countries in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and Latin America, and eight international organizations. 

Experts highlighted the importance of optimizing hybrid imaging protocols as well as patient dosimetry practices in therapeutic nuclear medicine. They noted the promising role of artificial intelligence in improving the accuracy and speed of dose calculations, which can be applied to enhance radiation protection. 

“We will work together on developing new IAEA publications and training materials to make sure radiation protection practices, guidance and training materials stay relevant and fully implemented, in particular with respect to new radiopharmaceuticals used in clinical trials and daily practice,” said IAEA Radiation Protection Specialist Vesna Gershan.  

Discussions also covered the need for enhanced training, qualified personnel, increased access to high performance equipment and dedicated dosimetry software in radionuclide therapy, and for assessment of non-standardized practices in medical facilities worldwide. Addressing these challenges would support efforts to improve adherence to safety practices and reduce exposure risks for patients. 

The meeting summary report containing all findings, challenges, conclusions and recommendations can be found here.  

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) –

“With this piece, I wanted to flip the narrative, because when it comes to nuclear energy, perception often overshadows reality. On the left, we see the classic fear: smoke, pollution, and the shadow of outdated ideas. On the right, we shift into colour, energy, innovation; where fission isn’t frightening, fusion is the future, and yes, even bananas have radiation (but no one’s scared of those!).”

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) –

The irradiator has been installed in a purpose-built facility at the International Centre for Environmental and Nuclear Science (ICENS), a research facility of the University of the West Indies,  which hosts the only research reactor in the Caribbean.

The new irradiator was procured by the IAEA through its technical cooperation programme and is now being used to also develop new varieties of ginger, yam and sweet potato — staple crops which not only contribute to food security in Jamaica but are also key national exports as irradiation can control spoilage and food-borne pathogenic mirco-organisms or insect pests without significantly affecting taste or smell. 

“In the short term, this facility will be integral to our efforts in crop improvement and integrated vector management [for insect pests],” said Charles Grant, Director General of ICENS. “In the medium to long term, the multi-purpose irradiator will also be utilized for the shelf-life extension of seasonal crops and, in the health sector, we intend to make arrangements with the University Hospital of the West Indies to start sterilizing medical equipment and to assist with research on improving skin graft technologies.”

Industrial irradiators can expose any product or piece of equipment to radiation. This technology has applications across a diverse range of disciplines, industries and research areas, including food preservation, medical device sterilization, materials modification and cultural heritage. 

To help Jamaica leverage this valuable new tool to its fullest, before its installation, the IAEA led a series of national projects to build capacity in plant tissue culturing and screening – methods that would benefit from the irradiator. Alongside training courses and workshops, two research fellowships were created at the Joint FAO/IAEA Centre in Seibersdorf, Austria, which supported the development of new crop varieties using gamma and X-ray irradiation, as well as other advanced molecular techniques.

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) –

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) –

A growing number of African countries are interested in adding nuclear to their energy mix, with Egypt building its first nuclear power plant and countries including Ghana and Kenya working with the IAEA to develop the requisite infrastructure to launch their programmes. The latest IAEA projections have nuclear capacity in Africa increasing tenfold by 2050 in the high case scenario, while even in the low case scenario the current figure grows by a factor of five.

The publication surveys the continent’s current energy landscape, highlighting the prospects for nuclear power to address the lack of electricity that is a daily reality for about half a billion people across Africa. The report also takes an in-depth look at what is required to deploy enough nuclear to meet the continent’s significant energy needs, underscoring the importance of addressing financing challenges, implementing strong, supportive government policies and adopting a regional approach to nuclear power development, and details IAEA support in these and other areas.

“Access to reliable and low-carbon energy sources such as nuclear can enable Africa to further explore and more importantly also add benefits and value to its vast natural resources, including uranium,” said Frederik Reitsma, Head of the IAEA’s Nuclear Power Technology Development Section. “History has shown that the development of a nuclear power programme, and the development of the associated supply chain, drives industrial growth and leads to advanced technology development in other areas.”

The publication also discusses how SMRs could play a major role in Africa, highlighting benefits such as their suitability for the relatively small electric grids that are common in Africa as well as lower capital costs. Uranium mining is also identified as a significant growth opportunity for the continent, which is already home to three of the world’s top ten uranium producers: Namibia, Niger and South Africa.

“As the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) contributes to the development of an energy security framework for G20 nations, insight-rich resources such as the IAEA’s Outlook for Nuclear Energy in Africa are essential to address regional resource expansion and inform development across continents,” said Emma Wong, Nuclear Principal Lead for Innovation, Quantum Technology and International Development at EPRI in remarks delivered during the launch event. “By together leveraging every resource at our disposal, we can amplify the value of global efforts to deliver the economic, environmental, and societal benefits of energy abundance to society.”

“The Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) provides a trusted and inclusive platform where countries can engage in informed dialogue on the opportunities and challenges of nuclear energy, and advance practical cooperation aligned with their national priorities” said Jean-François Gagné, Head of the CEM Secretariat. “As a key international platform, the CEM supports governments in advancing their nuclear energy ambitions, including in emerging and developing economies. In Africa, the CEM NICE Future Initiative has actively worked with countries such as Ghana and Kenya, helping them explore the potential role of nuclear energy in their broader clean energy transitions. The CEM works in close partnership with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), fostering international collaboration and knowledge exchange in support of national and regional goals.”

Looking ahead, the IAEA is preparing to engage at the G20’s Energy Transitions Ministerial Meeting, scheduled for October in South Africa. The IAEA is currently developing a publication on the coal-to-nuclear transition which covers the economic benefits of converting former coal sites for nuclear power deployment and provides an overview of the technical aspects of the repurposing process. This report is set to be released just ahead of the meeting.    

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) –

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) –

Independent sampling and analysis conducted by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have confirmed that the tritium concentration in the 14th batch of ALPS-treated water, which Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) began discharging today from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (FDNPS), is far below Japan’s operational limit.

As part of its ongoing safety review, the IAEA collected and analyzed samples onsite of the diluted water that was being prepared for discharge as part of this latest batch. The results confirmed that the tritium concentration is far below the operational limit of 1,500 becquerels per litre and is in line with international safety standards.

Japan is releasing the ALPS-treated water in a series of batches over the next decades, following the start of the discharge in August 2023. The treated water is diluted with seawater prior to discharge. Of the approximately 101.000 cubic meters of water already released in the first 13 batches, the IAEA also confirmed that the tritium concentrations were far below the international safety standards and operational limits.

In a comprehensive report issued on 4 July 2023 before the discharge began, the IAEA’s safety review found that Japan’s plan for handling the treated water was consistent with international safety standards and that the release as planned would have a negligible radiological impact to people and the environment.

Reports on sampling, independent analysis, data evaluation, as well as timeline, are available on the IAEA website.

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) –

The IAEA team at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) this morning heard several rounds of outgoing artillery fire coming from very near the site perimeter, the latest stark reminder of persistent nuclear safety dangers during the military conflict, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said.

The IAEA team members were conducting a walkdown at the ZNPP’s dry spent fuel storage facility when they heard artillery fire for just over an hour from around 10:40am local time.

“Indications of military activity taking place very close to this major nuclear power plant are deeply concerning. As I have repeatedly stated, maximum military restraint near nuclear power plants is a must in order to prevent the risk of a nuclear accident,” Director General Grossi said.

The latest incident came just a few days after the team was informed by the ZNPP of shelling taking place near the plant’s transportation department, located outside the site perimeter.

Further underlining the fragile nuclear safety and security situation, the IAEA team reported hearing military activities every day over the past week.

The site’s external power situation also remains extremely vulnerable, with the plant relying on a single off-site power line for three months now. Before the conflict, it had access to ten off-site lines for reactor cooling and other essential functions.

Over the past week, IAEA staff at the ZNPP conducted a walkdown of some of the site’s waterwork facilities. Access to the cooling pond isolation gate is still pending. The team is following up on the cooling water situation and its usage across the site.

At Ukraine’s operating nuclear power plants (NPPs) – Khmelnytskyy, Rivne and South Ukraine – three of their total of nine units remain in shutdown for refuelling and maintenance.

The IAEA teams at these NPPs and the Chornobyl site reported hearing air raid alarms nearly every day over the past week. At the Khmelnytskyy NPP, the team had to shelter three times.