IAEA’s Role in Times of War: Bellona Environmental Foundation Published Report

The Bellona Environmental Foundation published a report “The IAEA’s Role in Times of War” where it made an overview of the Agency’s efforts to ensure safety at Ukraine’s nuclear facilities starting from the full-scale russian invasion of Ukraine. The purpose of this report is to generalize information on the current functioning of the international safety system in times of war.

According to information presented in the report, as of the end of September 2023, the IAEA consisted of 178 member states. The IAEA management structure consists of two main authorities: the General Conference and the Board of Governors, as well as the Secretariat headed by the Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi. The Director General is assisted by six deputies, who head six main departments. Since February 2015, mikhail chudakov, who is the former Deputy Chairman of rosatom, has been the Head of the Department of Nuclear Energy and one of the Deputy Director Generals. 2555 experts work for the IAEA, about 100 of whom are russian citizens, who hold various managerial and administrative positions. The IAEA regular budget is about 425 million euros. An additional extra-budgetary fund of 136.6 million euros was created in 2023.

In the report, Bellona considers the activities and decisions made by IAEA governing authorities and management during the war, in particular analysis of actions and resolutions of the General Conference sessions and meetings of the Board of Governors, as well as practical measures implemented by the IAEA Director General and his deputies.

Bellona analyzed key official documents issued during the war, including those developed by the UN General Assembly and the UN Security Council. In addition, Bellona assessed the necessity, timeliness and scope of technical assistance provided by the agency in Ukraine. 

In particular, during the period of full-scale russian invasion of Ukraine, three regular and one special session of the IAEA General Conference have been analyzed, as well as the presence of the russian delegation headed by aleksey likhachev, rosatom Director General. On 27 September 2022, during the 66^th General Conference, likhachev accused Ukraine of “creating a direct threat to nuclear safety” and thanked the IAEA for “withstanding the test of endurance”, stating that the Agency does not go beyond its statute activities and maintains its non-politicized approach”. In addition, he reminded that rosatom “funds major projects in five of the Agency’s programs”. At the 67^th General Conference of the IAEA on 23 September 2023, likhachev reported on the successes of rosatom, criticized the “reckless actions of the Kyiv armed formations” and reminded the Conference that “the staff of the Zaporizhzhia NPP and the residents of the nuclear workers’ town of Enerhodar had made their choice in favor of russia in the referendum the previous year”. Besides, he stated that decisions in the global nuclear sector should be free from political influences. In 2024, speaking at the 68^th General Conference session, likhachev reminded the leadership of the IAEA and its guests that “the Soviet Union at the origins of the creation of the IAEA, and therefore russia as its successor had supported and would continue to support the Agency, including with financial resources”. He also thanked the IAEA for remaining “within its professional and technical mandate” and refraining from overstepping into military-political matters. 

The full-scale russian invasion of Ukraine has revealed a global problem: the lack of international mechanisms to prevent attacks on civilian nuclear facilities during armed international conflicts. These are new challenges in the nuclear sector, as it has become clear that threats to and seizures of nuclear facilities can come not only from criminal and terrorist groups but also from states that recognize the UN Charter and have signed numerous internationally recognized and legally binding documents.

In 2022-2024, Bellona has attempted to analyze and understand what measures should be taken to strengthen or reform the existing international system so that it can address issues of nuclear and physical safety at civilian nuclear facilities in the face of such military actions and threats.

According to conclusions published in the report, the full-scale russian invasion of Ukraine states on the acute necessity for reassessment of the international safety policy, in particular, on civil nuclear facilities. One of the solutions proposed in the report is to divide the IAEA into two agencies: one overseeing the promoting of nuclear science, civil technologies and power, the other overseeing monitoring and ensuring nuclear safety of both civil and military facilities. In addition, it is necessary to establish mechanisms for holding nations accountable for creating threats to civilian nuclear facilities, such as the destruction of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant dam or attacks on energy infrastructure. The IAEA should be empowered to assess these threats and identify those responsible for causing them.

The Bellona Environmental Foundation is an international science-based non-profit organization observing russia’s impact on the environment. With the beginning of a full-scale russian invasion of Ukraine, the organization studies the impact on nuclear and radiation safety in Ukraine. This is not the first report developed by the organization. Earlier, Bellona published a report on the probable restart of Zaporizhzhia NPP reactors by russia, rosatom’s role in the invasion of Ukraine. Bellona also held a forum to discuss nuclear and radiation war risks in Ukraine.

Uatom.org Editorial Board