IAEA Trains Ukrainian Experts to Assess Damaged Infrastructure

The International Atomic Energy Agency trained nine Ukrainian experts in non-destructive testing for civil engineering during a five-day course at its Non-Destructive Testing Service Centre in Seibersdorf, Austria, in July 2026.

Ukrainian engineers and specialists are gaining new skills to examine damaged buildings and infrastructure without causing further harm to already weakened structures, as the country continues dealing with the extensive destruction left by the collapse of the Kakhovka Dam in June 2023.

The International Atomic Energy Agency trained nine Ukrainian experts in non-destructive testing for civil engineering during a five-day course at its Non-Destructive Testing Service Centre in Seibersdorf, Austria, in July 2026. The training was delivered through the IAEA Support and Assistance Mission to the Kherson Oblast, known as ISAMKO, and focused on techniques that can help specialists judge whether damaged structures remain safe, require repairs or need more extensive rehabilitation.

Non-destructive testing allows engineers to look for hidden cracks, corrosion, material deterioration and other weaknesses without cutting into or further damaging the structure being examined, making the technology particularly useful after floods, earthquakes and other major disasters.

Kakhovka disaster left widespread damage across Kherson

The destruction of the Kakhovka Dam on June 6, 2023 triggered severe downstream flooding that affected around 80 settlements in Kherson Oblast, damaging homes, public buildings, roads, industrial sites, hydraulic structures and other essential infrastructure.

The disaster also disrupted access to safe drinking water for as many as one million people, creating needs that extended well beyond repairing buildings. The IAEA established ISAMKO after Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi visited Ukraine and met President Volodymyr Zelenskyy following the dam's destruction.

Through the programme, the agency has supported work involving structural integrity, drinking water safety, environmental monitoring, human and animal health, agriculture and food safety. Assistance includes equipment, technical expertise and training that Ukrainian professionals can use as recovery work continues.

Assessing the remaining strength of damaged structures is an important part of that process because outward appearances do not always reveal problems hidden inside concrete or other materials.

Ukrainian experts receive hands-on training in Austria

The July course was the first training programme held at the IAEA's NDT Service Centre, which opened in 2024 with specialised equipment, concrete test specimens and facilities designed for practical training and disaster-response preparation.

Participants learned techniques including ultrasonic pulse velocity testing, rebound hammer testing, infrared thermography and reinforcement detection using profometers and ground-penetrating radar. They also worked through post-disaster inspection methods and case studies showing how different technologies can be used to diagnose structural problems.

Hands-on exercises gave the Ukrainian specialists experience with modern equipment under the guidance of IAEA staff and two invited experts in infrastructure assessment and post-damage inspections.

Viktoriia Zozulynets from Kyiv National University of Construction and Architecture said the knowledge would help improve the interpretation of testing results and could be used in research, building inspections and teaching future civil engineers. Vitalii Tsykh of Ivano-Frankivsk National Technical University of Oil and Gas also pointed to the importance of preparing a new generation of specialists who will be needed to work on Ukraine's civil infrastructure.

Skills gained could support years of rebuilding work

IAEA ISAMKO Coordinator Rabih Ayache said the training is intended to give Ukrainian experts practical knowledge they can use to assess critical infrastructure safely and with greater confidence, building domestic expertise that can contribute to the country's recovery and resilience.

The agency has used non-destructive testing expertise following other major disasters, including Hurricane Melissa in Jamaica in 2025, earthquakes in Myanmar in 2025, earthquakes affecting Türkiye, Syria and Ecuador in 2023, and the 2020 Beirut port explosion in Lebanon.

In 2025, the IAEA published its first guidelines for harmonising civil engineering NDT training internationally. It has also launched a five-year research project examining how artificial intelligence could work alongside advanced testing methods to provide faster, data-driven information about damaged infrastructure.

For Ukraine, those technical skills have an immediate purpose. Engineers face the difficult task of determining which structures can be safely restored and how repairs should be prioritised, while universities must prepare specialists capable of supporting reconstruction for years to come.