On November 22, a high-level opening event took place in virtual mode to kick off a series of activities on mental health support for operating personnel of NPPs in Ukraine.
This work is some part of the IAEA comprehensive medical programme announced by the IAEA Director General, Mr Rafael Mariano Grossi, on 26 April 2023.
The main objective of this programme is to enable that the operating personnel at NPPs in Ukraine have access to services of psychological counselling and mental health support. It will allow ensuring the continued fitness of these personnel for duty.
In addition, the programme assumes a series of trainings and workshops for regular staff psychologists of NPPs and psychologists in the towns-satellites.
The kick-off meeting was opened by IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi. The opening remarks were delivered by President of SE NNEGC Energoatom Petro Kotin, Acting Chairman of SNRIU Oleh Korikov, and IAEA Medical Director Dr Lademann Matthias.
Chornobyl NPP was represented by Director Technical (- Chief Engineer) Oleksandr Titarchuk, Deputy Head of ChNPP International Cooperation and Information Department Valentyna Odynytsia, and ChNPP Training Centre psychologists. Moreover, the Social-and-Psychological Centre psychologists of Slavutych, town-satellite of ChNPP, took part in this event.
During the full-scale war started by russia against Ukraine, especially after deoccupation of ChNPP industrial site the Agency focuses its attention on the health protection issues both entire nuclear industry staff and of ChNPP in particular.
Recently, ChNPP site and Slavutych have been visited by IAEA Medical Mission experts. Their task was to analyze current problems of the nuclear power plant in terms of technical and humanitarian aid.
As a result of this IAEA mission, Medical Mission experts together with ChNPP personnel have planned the delivery of necessary goods for improving the inter-shift rest conditions of the personnel at the site. Particularly, it involves furniture, beds, sanitary-and-hygienic products etc.
Photo: ChNPP archive, 26 april 2022