Ukraine is facing serious new nuclear safety risks as a result of russian strikes aimed at damaging its power grid, depriving the country's three operating nuclear power plants of stable power supply.
It was reported by Bloomberg.
Diplomats have convened an emergency meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna to discuss the impact of russian attacks on critical infrastructure needed to keep Ukraine's reactors running. Months of strikes have not only forced millions of people to go through the winter without stable electricity and heating, but have also increased the likelihood of a nuclear accident.
This is because nuclear power, unlike fossil fuel or renewable energy plants, requires a constant flow of electricity to ensure the operation of safety systems. Without it, there is a risk of fuel overheating in the reactor core, which can lead to a dangerous radiation leak.
"We have grave concerns about the significant and increasing nuclear safety and security risks linked to nuclear power plants in Ukraine," said Peter Potman, Ambassador of the Netherlands to the IAEA, who initiated the convening of an extraordinary meeting of the agency's board. According to him, the prospect of a nuclear accident is "about to become a reality."
European countries are demanding that the IAEA provide a detailed assessment of Ukraine's vulnerability by next month. Observers based in Ukraine are currently inspecting critical substations needed to transmit electricity.
"Any damage to this infrastructure undermines nuclear safety and must be avoided. All efforts should be made to ensure off-site power remains available and secure at all times," said IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Gross.
Substations maintain stability by regulating the transmission of high voltage in the grid. Although there are thousands of them in Ukraine, 10 critical nodes connected to nuclear reactors are at stake. Their destruction could plunge the country into darkness and provoke a radiological accident.
"All Ukraine’s operating nuclear power plants have been forced to reduce power output in recent weeks," the European Union said in a statement. The attacks significantly increase the risks to safety systems at nuclear facilities, the statement said.
Recall, meanwhile, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys in a letter to the International Criminal Court (ICC) asks to investigate as a crime of genocide russian systematic attacks on energy, heating, and water infrastructure of Ukraine in the midst of winter, and to consider issuing new arrest warrants for officials of the aggressor state of russia responsible for these attacks.
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