UN nuclear watchdog head Rafael Grossi is to go to Russia’s Kursk nuclear plant on Tuesday to “independently assess” occasions following Ukraine’s unprecedented cross-border offensive into the Russian area.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has repeatedly warned of the risks of combating round nuclear crops following Russia’s full-scale army offensive into Ukraine in February 2022.
In the primary days of the battle, Russian forces seized the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in southern Ukraine, and likewise briefly held the decommissioned Chernobyl plant within the north.
Ukraine launched its shock incursion into Kursk on August 6. It has stated it’s making advances, at the same time as Russian forces transfer deeper into japanese Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin final week accused Ukraine of making an attempt to assault the Kursk nuclear energy plant, which is lower than 50 kilometres (30 miles) from combating between Russian and Ukrainian forces.
The IAEA confirmed that it had been informed by Russian authorities that drone fragments had been discovered final Thursday roughly 100 metres from the Kursk plant’s spent gasoline nuclear storage facility.
– ‘SERIOUS SITUATION’ –
Grossi stated he would “independently assess what is happening” when he visits the plant on Tuesday, personally main the mission “given the serious situation”.
“The safety and security of all nuclear power plants is of central and fundamental concern to the IAEA,” Grossi stated in an announcement on Monday.
The plant lies some 60 kilometres (37 miles) from the Russia-Ukraine border, subsequent to the Seym river, and fewer than 50 kilometres away from Kursk metropolis, the area’s capital with a inhabitants of round 440,000.
The plant has 4 reactor models although solely two are operational. Two extra reactors are beneath development.
All 4 reactors are the identical kind as Ukraine’s Chernobyl nuclear energy plant, with out a defending dome round them.
In 1986, a reactor at Chernobyl exploded throughout a botched security take a look at, ensuing on this planet’s worst nuclear accident that despatched clouds of radiation throughout a lot of Europe and compelled tens of 1000’s of individuals to evacuate.
Tariq Rauf, a former IAEA official, stated all these reactors have since undergone “significant safety upgrades”.
Robert Kelley, a former IAEA director of inspections, stated: “The possibility of a Chernobyl-type incident with the reactor blowing up and burning for days is zero.”
But he added that an errant bomb or massive artillery strike on spent gasoline storage ponds might injury the gasoline and launch radioactive gases and particles.
– ‘MAXIMUM RESTRAINT’ –
Russia has repeatedly sounded the alarm over a doable hit since Ukrainian troops and tanks stormed into Kursk.
The IAEA urged each Russia and Ukraine to train “maximum restraint” to “avoid a nuclear accident with the potential for serious radiological consequences”.
On Sunday, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky stated Ukrainian forces had taken management of two extra Russian settlements in Kursk area, including to dozens already captured.
More than 130,000 folks have been displaced to this point.
Kyiv has stated the offensive goals to forestall cross-border strikes from Russia into its Sumy area and to drive Russia to the negotiating desk “on our own terms”.
Source: www.anews.com.tr