Ukraine N-safety concerns

The war in Ukraine 'continues to pose the world's biggest threat to nuclear safety', Rafael Grossi, Director General, IAEA

The UN nuclear watchdog's board of governors on Friday discussed nuclear safety in Ukraine, with several countries expressing 'growing concern' following Russian attacks on the power grid.
Energy supplies to Ukraine's nuclear plants have been affected as Russia has pounded its neighbour's power sector since the start of its 2022 war, prompting fears of a nuclear disaster.
The war in Ukraine 'continues to pose the world's biggest threat to nuclear safety', Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said when opening the board meeting.
The extraordinary meeting that lasted four hours was called after 13 countries led by the Netherlands expressed in a letter seen by AFP a 'growing concern about the severity and urgency of nuclear safety risks' following a series of attacks.
Ukrainian ambassador Yurii Vitrenko told reporters before the meeting that it was 'high time' for the IAEA board to discuss the situation.
A weeks-long IAEA expert mission to Ukrainian substations and power plants is under way and expected to wrap up next month, Vitrenko said.
The mission will assess 10 substations 'crucial to nuclear safety', according to Grossi.
Russian Ambassador Mikhail Ulyanov dismissed the board's gathering as 'absolutely politically motivated', adding there was 'no real need to hold such a meeting today'.
Last week, Ukraine's Chernobyl nuclear power plant temporarily lost all off-site power.
Europe's biggest nuclear power plant, Zaporizhzhia, occupied by Russian forces since March 2022, has also been repeatedly affected by fighting.
Earlier this month, Russia and Ukraine agreed to a localised ceasefire to allow repairs on the last remaining backup power line supplying Zaporizhzhia.
The line was damaged and disconnected as a result of military activity in early January. The Zaporizhzhia plant's six reactors have been shut down since the occupation. But the site still needs electricity to maintain its cooling and security systems.
Moscow and Kyiv have repeatedly accused each other of risking a nuclear catastrophe by attacking the site.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin on Friday said President Vladimir Putin had agreed to stop striking Kyiv for a week — ending Sunday — following a request by his US counterpart Donald Trump.
Trump had said he asked Putin to halt strikes on the Ukrainian capital and the surrounding area due to extreme cold weather.
Moscow, meanwhile, said the US leader had made the appeal in order to help the Washington-driven negotiation process to end almost four years of war between the neighbours.
Russia's battering of Ukraine's energy grid has left whole districts without heating, with temperatures expected to plunge to around -30°C in Kyiv in the coming days, raising fears of a humanitarian crisis.