The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency visited the Chernobyl nuclear power station in Ukraine on Monday on the 36th anniversary of the plant’s meltdown. Rafael Grossi vowed help for Ukraine to repair damage caused when Russian forces seized the facility in February. He praised workers at the plant for helping to prevent what could have been another nuclear disaster.

Rafael Grossi: “In this case, what we had was a nuclear safety situation that was not normal, that could have developed into an accident. I think the first credit must go to the operators, to these people here, because they carried on their work in spite of all the difficulties, in spite of the stress, in spite of the fact that they could not be working normally. They continued working as if nothing had happened, so they kept the situation stable, so to speak.”