Ukraine grateful to IAEA for not recognizing annexation of Crimea

"Since the beginning of the aggression of the Russian armed forces in February 2014, the agency has firmly demonstrated that the IAEA platform will never be used for impudent attempts to recognize any changes in the status of Crimea. In this regard, we highly appreciate the important role the agency plays in overcoming present-day common challenges in accordance with the provisions of its charter and resolutions of the General Assembly," said Chairman of the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine Hryhorii Plachkov, who leads the Ukrainian delegation at the 62nd Annual Regular Session of the of the IAEA General Conference in Vienna, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

Plachkov also stressed that Ukraine had been one of the IAEA founders and actively supported the agency in its programs and initiatives. In particular, the projects within the framework of the IAEA’s technical cooperation programme, aimed at support for decommissioning the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and radioactive waste management, are important for Ukraine.

The chairman of the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine also informed that Ukraine had taken a number of important steps to develop the nuclear energy sector over the past year, including three NPPs life extension, start of construction of the storage facility for spent nuclear fuel, loading with a full core of Westinghouse VVER-1000 fuel at South-Ukraine NPP Unit 3.

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