Systems allowing remote control of nuclear material at the damaged Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine have stopped transmitting data to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the agency said on Tuesday.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 and its forces immediately seized control of the damaged nuclear power plant at Chernobyl, where the by far the worst nuclear accident in history occurred in 1986.
Rafael Grossi, Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)’s Director-General of the IAEA, said: of the organism.
The IAEA uses the term “safeguards” when referring to technical measures applied in relation to nuclear activity, in order to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons by timely detection of the misuse of nuclear materials.
More than 200 technicians and guards are stranded at the facility, working 13 consecutive days under the watchful eye of the Russian military, according to the IAEA, which is talking about “deteriorating” their situation and asking Moscow to allow shifts to take place. to take breaks and adhere to normal schedules, considering that this is critical to the safety of the facility.
“I’m deeply concerned about the difficult and stressful situation of the staff at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and the potential risks it poses to nuclear safety,” Grossi said.
Nuclear waste and other materials are still stored at Chernobyl.
With data transmission cut off and the Ukrainian regulator unable to contact the facility by e-mail, Mr Grossi reiterated his offer to go to the station, or wherever indicated, to receive assurances from all parties that ” committed to the safety “of Ukrainian nuclear facilities.
The Russian army has been in possession since Friday the nuclear plant in Zaporizhia, in southeastern Ukraine, where Russian artillery strikes, according to Ukrainians, caused a fire. Moscow denies the Ukrainian version of events and says its forces did not cause the fire.
The factory in Zaporizhia is the largest of its kind in Europe. Its reactors were put into service between 1984 and 1995.
They have a more modern design compared to Chernobyl, the first nuclear facility to be built in Ukraine, then a Soviet republic, in the 1970s, when reactors were much less safe.
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