Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi this week told IAEA Member States that the nuclear safety and security situation in Ukraine remains highly fragile, as Agency teams stationed at nuclear facilities across the country continue to report frequent air raid alarms and military activity. Addressing the IAEA General Conference in Vienna — the Agency’s annual gathering of all Member States — Director General Grossi highlighted the IAEA’s ongoing work to help prevent a nuclear or radiological accident during the military conflict and support Ukraine’s nuclear safety and security infrastructure. “The IAEA's steadfast work continues in Ukraine, where our teams are stationed at all the nuclear power plants, including the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) on the frontlines of the war,” he said in his opening statement to the General Conference on Monday. At the ZNPP, the IAEA team this week continued to hear military activity, including gunfire and explosions, on a daily basis, often at close range, further underlining the constant dangers to nuclear safety. In his statement, Director General Grossi noted that since June alone, the ZNPP has suffered 10 losses of offsite power, the latest on 20 August, marking 26 since the conflict began in 2022. The plant’s emergency diesel generators – used to power its essential safety and security functions – have depleted almost all of their fuel supplies. Following the seventh temporary localized ceasefire secured by the IAEA, demining and nuclear safety-related work was carried out from 5 to 7 September, enabling the reconnection of the ZNPP’s sole remaining external power line — the 330 kilovolt (kV) Ferosplavna-1 line — which remains functional today. “The reconnection of this power line was a necessary step for nuclear safety and security, but serious risks remain. Further urgent measures are needed, including the delivery of additional diesel fuel to the site, to help ensure the plant’s essential safety and security functio