Ukraine joins IAEA Board of Governors

At the session of the General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on September 28, Ukraine was elected Member of the Board of Governors of the Agency.

The Ministry of Energy announced this, Ukrainian News Agency reports.

The Board of Governors consists of 35 countries, including Canada, the United States, France, and Germany.

"Earlier, Ukraine was already elected to the IAEA Board of Governors. The last time - more than 10 years ago, namely for 2009-2011. After that, Ukraine filed an application of a candidate to the IAEA Board of Governors in 2018, but was not elected - there were not enough votes. This time, the decision on Ukraine's membership in the agency's governing body was adopted by 79 votes," the statement said.

According to the report, the IAEA Board of Governors is one of the agency's two governing bodies along with the IAEA's annual General Conference.

The Board of Governors considers applications for admission to the agency, approves warranty agreements, publishes IAEA security standards.

The Board of Governors also appoints the Director General of the Agency, which is approved by the General Conference.

"We are grateful to all the countries that supported the decision on Ukraine's membership in the IAEA Board of Governors. Russia's war against Ukraine and the occupation by the enemy of our largest nuclear power plant has called into question both the possibility of ensuring nuclear and radiation safety and the development of the nuclear industry as a whole. After all, any incident at a nuclear power plant will level all civilizational developments regarding a peaceful atom. The international community must return to compliance with the 7 pillars of nuclear safety. I hope that by joint efforts we can achieve this - to force the russians to stop nuclear blackmail around the world," said Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, Ukraine plans to build two new nuclear power units and launch pilot projects of small modular reactors.