A customary meeting took place between the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) newly re-elected Director General (DG) Rafael Grossi and the Russian state atomic energy corporation Rosatom DG Alexey Likhachev on the sidelines of the 67th session of the IAEA’s General Conference that was held between September 25-29 at the UN nuclear agency’s headquarters in Vienna.
A Rosatom statement said the Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to international organisations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, and the head of the Russian nuclear regulator Rostekhnadzor, Alexander Trembitsky, participated in the meeting.
“The Director General of Rosatom confirmed the Russian Federation’s support for the IAEA work and emphasized the Russian commitment to further development of comprehensive cooperation between the Russian Federation and the Agency,” the statement said.
“The parties discussed the main points of the current and future agenda of bilateral cooperation between Russia and the IAEA. They focused on the issues related to ensuring nuclear safety and security of the Zaporozhskaya NPP, the largest nuclear power plant (NPP) in Europe. According to Alexey Likhachev, the Russian side intends to continue to create all necessary conditions to ensure an effective IAEA presence at the plant site,” the statement added.
Previous such meetings on the subject have discussed issues related to the safety situation in the Zaporizhzhya NPP in Ukraine in the current context of conflict in the country. Rosatom currently operates the Zaporizhzhya NPP.
According to Rosatom, the company head Alexey Likhachev also informed the IAEA Director General about the efforts made by the Russian side to develop the social sphere of Energodar and to establish normal life in the city, which is home to the Zaporizhzhya NPP.
The Rosatom DG congratulated Grossi on his re-election to the position of the IAEA Director General and expressed the hope that the IAEA Secretariat under the latter’s leadership would continue its activities for the safe promotion of nuclear energy in the world on the basis of the IAEA’s professional mandate.
Rafael Grossi was re-elected as the Director General of the IAEA for a second four-year term in office on September 25 during the IAEA General Assembly with representatives from all member states in attendance.
