Twelve countries warned of the growing risk of a nuclear accident in Ukraine during an emergency meeting of the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Friday. TASR informs about it according to the report of the DPA agency.
Regular Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure have not only exposed millions of residents to freezing winters, “but also have a negative impact on the country’s nuclear security, making the chances of a nuclear accident a reality,” the countries warned in a joint statement.
Threat of nuclear power plants
Attacks on Ukrainian substations and increasingly severe damage to power grids by country threaten nuclear safety, the statement said. They also pointed out that reliable electricity supplies are essential for the safe operation of nuclear power plants.
Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Japan, Canada, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Germany, Portugal, Romania, the United Kingdom and Italy have joined the initiative.
Risk of melting nuclear material
Although nuclear power plants generate electricity themselves, they use external electricity supplies to cool the radioactive material in the facilities. In case of emergency, they use backup generators. If the cooling systems fail, the worst case scenario is the melting of radioactive material.
US President Donald Trump said at a cabinet meeting on Thursday that he had asked Russian President Vladimir Putin that his military refrain from attacking Kiev and other Ukrainian cities for one week due to the freezing weather. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov then announced on Friday that Putin had agreed to suspend attacks on Ukrainian cities until February 1.
Millions without light, heat and water
Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in recent days have left millions of Ukrainians without light, heat and water. The situation is particularly critical in Kyiv. In some parts of the country, according to forecasts, the temperature could drop to minus 30 degrees Celsius in the coming days.
