““The words of the IAEA do not protect Ukrainian nuclear power plants from Russian missile attacks,” Greenpeace expert said”, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
The fund pointed to its own analysis in October, which “underscored the vulnerability of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants to a catastrophic failure due to grid instability” caused by Russian airstrikes.
“Three months have passed since the IAEA agreed to develop a plan and direct its inspectors to protect Ukraine’s energy system. This has so far resulted in a total of six inspection days, the most recent of which took place in October. Since then, Russia has carried out two large-scale strikes, deliberately targeting Ukraine’s power grid and threatening the security of its nuclear plants,” the organization says.
She reminds that after the November 17 missile attack, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said that the agency is “ready to organize relevant missions in the near future.”
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Greenpeace quotes its expert, Sean Burney, as saying that the IAEA is “fully aware of the risks but has so far chosen not to act.”
“The future that Grossi is talking about is happening now, and it’s a real emergency where every day, every hour counts. The words of the IAEA do not protect Ukrainian nuclear power plants from Russian missile attacks. Where are the IAEA’s plans for permanent comprehensive protection at substations, which are necessary to prevent grid collapse and nuclear disaster in Europe?” – asks Bernie.
The fund also adds that on November 25, UN human rights experts appealed to Russia with an urgent call to stop missile attacks on Ukraine’s energy system. They also highlighted, in particular, the IAEA’s lack of plans for missions at critical substations, warning of the risk of a nuclear disaster potentially exceeding Japan’s 2011 Fukushima Daiichi accident and the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.
The IAEA has not yet responded to criticism of the organization.
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On November 21, during a meeting with Grossi, Minister of Energy Herman Galushchenko called for continued monitoring of substations important for the operation of nuclear power plants.
On November 28, the Russian military carried out a massive missile attack, in many cities the sounds of explosions were heard, and air defense was working. The Minister of Energy of Ukraine, Herman Galushchenko, said that the Russian Federation is attacking the energy infrastructure, and the Ukrenergo company announced emergency power cuts. Later they were canceled.
Local authorities reported that Russian troops hit a critical infrastructure facility in the Rivne region with cruise missiles in the morning of November 28. It is also known that the objects of the critical infrastructure of Prykarpattia have once again become the target of a Russian missile attack. The head of the Lviv OVA Maksym Kozytskyi reported without details that the Russian military attacked energy infrastructure facilities in the region.