IAEA Board of Governors
Agenda Item 7: Nuclear safety, security and safeguards in Ukraine
12 June 2025
Statement by H.E Ambassador Ian Biggs, Governor and Resident Representative of Australia to the IAEA
Chair,
Australia welcomes the Director General’s report on nuclear safety, security and safeguards in Ukraine. We align with the joint statement delivered by Canada.
The Director General’s report once again highlights the devastating impact of Russia’s illegal and immoral invasion on Ukraine, and the precarious situation at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) with six of the seven pillars being fully or partially compromised.
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, now in its fourth year, is a flagrant violation of international law. It has been more than three years since Russia took control of the ZNPP.
We are gravely concerned by continued explosions, drone attacks and gunfire in the vicinity of ZNPP and drones flying in close proximity to Ukraine’s nuclear power plants, including the drone strike on 14 February 2025 at the Chornobyl reactor, which required extensive resources to contain.
We also express our concern at reports that Russia has plans to restart one or more reactors at ZNPP. Besides constituting a further misappropriation of resources that should rightfully belong to Ukraine, such a decision would have serious safety implications given the ongoing hostilities as a result of Russia’s illegal invasion. We share the Agency’s concern that while the nuclear safety and security situation at the ZNPP remains in jeopardy due to Russia’s illegal and immoral war of aggression, no reactor should be restarted.
We reiterate that the most effective protection of Ukraine’s nuclear infrastructure involves an immediate and complete withdrawal of all Russian military and unauthorised personnel from all of Ukraine and the return of all nuclear facilities to Ukrainian control.
Chair,
We commend the Director General for his dedicated focus on Ukraine, including his 12th mission to Ukraine last week. The IAEA’s presence has been critical in helping to stabilise the situation at Ukraine’s ZNPP and in providing an independent, impartial source of reporting to the international community. We note the expansion of the IAEA’s assistance programme to assess the stability of critical energy infrastructure for the safe operation of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants and commend the IAEA staff for their professionalism.
We acknowledge the challenging conditions that IAEA and Ukrainian staff continue to operate under at the ZNPP. We deeply regret that the Agency’s ability to conduct safe rotations of the ISAMZ team has been disrupted by military activities, putting the Agency staff at risk and delaying their safe passage, and that access to personnel and to information by the IAEA has been impeded, compromising the Agency’s ability to fully assess whether the IAEA’s five concrete principles are being observed. The independent, impartial and objective assessment of the nuclear safety and security situation is in all our interests. We reiterate our call for full and transparent cooperation by Russia with Agency teams.
Chair,
We affirm our full support for the General Conference and Board resolutions on Ukraine and condemn Russia’s failure to comply with these resolutions.
Finally, Chair, Australia reaffirms its unequivocal condemnation of Russia’s nuclear posturing and rhetoric. Russia’s threat of nuclear weapons use, let alone any use of nuclear weapons, is unacceptable and a serious threat to international peace and security.
With these comments, we note the Director General’s report and request it be made public.
And of course, I join colleagues in saluting Deputy Director General Evrard in what may be her last appearance on the Presidium in this capacity. We are all in her debt.