The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has repeatedly expressed concern about the difficult and stressful working conditions to which the personnel employed in the plants of the nuclear power plants of Zaporizhzhya and Chernobyl, conquered and then abandoned by the Russian army, are subjected. A situation, the one triggered by the armed conflict, that has seriously compromised one of the pillars of nuclear safety for the entire world. 

"The morale and emotional state" of the staff are "very low", says Iaea Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi. "It is unacceptable and unsustainable that they are working under circumstances that could severely compromise their well-being and thus have a negative impact on the safe and secure operation of these nuclear facilities. The personnel at the Ukrainian sites deserve our deep admiration and sincere gratitude for the resilience and determination they have shown in carrying out their important tasks". 

Suffice it to say that at the end of March an unexploded ordnance dropped near a nuclear research facility in the city of Kharkiv was reported to Aiea and today the facility still has no electricity due to bombing. At the Zaporizhzhya plant, among the largest on the Old Continent, staff are still in shock after the military took control, while at Chernobyl staff rotation is planned. Thanks to the resilience of these workers, humanity has breathed a sigh of relief.