UN nuclear watchdog discusses risks to Ukraine's nuclear safety after relentless Russian strikes

VIENNA (AP) — The U.N. atomic watchdog's board held a special session Friday to discuss risks to nuclear safety in Ukraine as concerns mount that relentless Russian attacks on its energy infrastructure pose an increasing danger of a nuclear accident.

The urgent meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency's board of governors was held at the request of the Netherlands with support from 11 other countries, diplomats said — Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Portugal, Romania and the United Kingdom. Though it won't produce any binding outcome, the aim is to increase diplomatic pressure on Russia.

Russia's “ongoing and daily” attacks against Ukraine's energy infrastructure in recent weeks have caused significant damage, Netherlands Ambassador Peter Potman told the board.

"Not only does this leave millions of Ukrainians in the cold and dark during a very harsh winter, but it is also negatively impacting nuclear safety in Ukraine, bringing the prospect of a nuclear accident to the very precipice of becoming a reality,” he said.

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said that damage to electrical substations “undermines nuclear safety and must be avoided.”

Although nuclear power plants produce energy themselves, they rely on an uninterrupted supply of external power from electrical substations to ensure reactor cooling. In the event of a sudden loss of power, emergency diesel generators are available. But if those fail, too, the risk of a nuclear meltdown increases.

Ukraine has four nuclear power plants, three of them under Kyiv’s control. The fourth and biggest, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, has been occupied by Russian forces since the early days of Moscow’s full-scale invasion in 2022. Ukraine is also home to the former Chernobyl plant, the site of the world’s worst nuclear accident in 1986.

“As we speak, an IAEA expert mission is underway at Ukraine’s electrical substations amid ongoing strikes on the country’s power infrastructure," Grossi said. “The mission will assess 10 substations crucial to nuclear safety.”

Ukrainian Ambassador Yurii Vitrenko told reporters as the meeting started that it is “high time” for the IAEA to “shine an additional spotlight on the threat to nuclear safety and security in Europe” caused by Russia’s “systematic and deliberate destruction of Ukrainian energy infrastructure.”

He said that Kyiv appreciates the “personal efforts” of U.S. President Donald Trump to “halt energy terror by the Russian Federation” and he expressed hope that these efforts will bring “tangible results.”

On Friday, the terms of a Russian commitment to Trump to temporarily halt its bombardment of Ukraine during one of the country’s bleakest winters in years remained unclear.

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