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UN watchdog concerned over Ukraine nuclear power plant

Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said he had received reports that the soldiers were close to the Zaporizhzhia station in eastern Ukraine.

AFP
Geneva, Switzerland
Tue, March 1, 2022

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 UN watchdog concerned over Ukraine nuclear power plant A file picture taken on April 13, 2021 shows the giant protective dome built over the sarcophagus covering the destroyed fourth reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant ahead of the upcoming 35th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Ukraine announced on February 24 that Russian forces had captured the Chernobyl nuclear power plant after a (AFP/Sergei Supinksy)

T

he UN atomic energy watchdog's chief on Monday expressed "grave concern" that invading Russian troops were operating close to the largest nuclear power station in Ukraine.

Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said he had received reports that the soldiers were close to the Zaporizhzhia station in eastern Ukraine.

The six reactors there were safe for the moment and Russian troops had not tried to enter the facility, a statement said.

But Grossi said he was following developments in Ukraine "very closely and with grave concern".

He added: "It is extremely important that the nuclear power plants are not put at risk in any way.

"An accident involving the nuclear facilities in Ukraine could have severe consequences for public health and the environment."

A meeting of the IAEA's governors is scheduled for Wednesday at its Vienna headquarters to discuss the risks that the conflict poses to Ukraine's nuclear facilities.

Ukraine has four nuclear power stations currently in operation providing about half the country's electricity.

It is also the site of the world's worst nuclear disaster, the 1986 Chernobyl fire. Russian troops captured the site on Thursday.

On Sunday, the agency said Ukraine's nuclear authorities had reported that missiles had hit a radioactive waste disposal facility in Kyiv, although there was no damage to the building and no radioactive leak. 

Over the weekend, the Russian military released images of the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine that it seized after President Vladimir Putin launched an invasion of the country this week. 

Russian troops took control of the area -- one of the most radioactive places on earth -- on the first day of their offensive into Ukraine. 

Images released by Moscow's defence ministry showed Russian soldiers patrolling the plant, which is encased in a giant sarcophagus, with snipers dressed in black uniforms and a tank parked on the territory. 

A masked soldier said radiation levels were "under control". 

The soldier claimed the Russians were protecting the area "with the Ukrainian National Guard", but Ukrainian authorities have said staff had been evacuated as Moscow's forces took control.

Ukraine on Friday said the radiation levels had increased since Chernobyl -- which lies on the path of the Russian advance from Belarus to the capital Kyiv --  was seized by Moscow's troops. 

Ukrainian authorities said they had informed the IAEA that they had lost control of highly radioactive fuel rods from the power plant.

The UN's nuclear watchdog said the radiation levels "posed no danger" and that Ukrainian regulators suspected the uptick could have been caused by heavy military vehicles stirring up contaminated soil. 

The explosion in the fourth reactor at the nuclear power plant in April 1986 left swathes of Ukraine and neighbouring Belarus badly contaminated and led to the creation of an exclusion zone roughly the size of Luxembourg.

The release of the footage Saturday appeared part of the Kremlin's major propaganda campaign at home downplaying the ferocity of the bloody attack on Ukraine. 

Authorities have simultaneously cracked down on protesters taking to the streets to protest the war, arresting over 2,000 demonstrators.

 

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