Open letter from civil society organizations regarding the situation in Ukraine – PRESSENZA International News Agency

Dear International Atomic Energy Agency,

We, the undersigned, represent civil society organizations across the world.

We are deeply concerned about the safety of the people of Ukraine under the current military aggression, which has put the lives of civilians at great risk, threatening a humanitarian disaster on an enormous scale.

Specifically, we are very concerned about the ongoing situation at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and at Ukraines 15 commercial reactors. We understand that Russian forces have taken control of the Chernobyl nuclear site and are also approaching or may even be occupying the six reactor Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant in eastern Ukraine.

We currently have little information regarding the radiation safety of these and the three other nuclear power plant sites.

According to SaveEcoBot and MEDO, online radiation monitoring sites of Ukraine, the radiation data provided by the State Specialized Enterprise Chernobyl nuclear power plant has not been fully updated since the morning of February 25, 2022. The data from the Chernobyl site recorded an exceptional jump in the radiation counts of 65500 nSv/h at 21:50 on February 24. Another concerning increase of 93000 nSv/h was recorded at 10:40 on February 25.

On February 28, 2022, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) issued a statement that:

Last week, Ukraine informed the IAEA that Russian forces had taken control of the facilities of the State Specialized Enterprise Chornobyl NPP, located within the Exclusion Zone set up after the 1986 accident. The regulator said today that the shift supervisor at the site had not been replaced since 24 February but that he continued to perform his duties. SNRIU (State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine) also provided radiation readings from the site which the IAEA assessed as low and in line with near background levels.

The IAEA statement does not provide an explanation for the exceptional jump in the radiation counts that were recorded on February 24 and February 25.

On February 27, 2022, the IAEA published an update that:

Ukraine informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) today that missiles hit the site of a radioactive waste disposal facility in Kyiv overnight, but there were no reports of damage to the building or any indications of a radioactive release.

The IAEA also highlighted that a similar incident also took place in another city:

An electrical transformer at a similar disposal facility near the north-eastern city of Kharkiv had been damaged, also without any reports of a radioactive release. Such facilities typically hold disused radioactive sources and other low-level waste from hospitals and industry.

Beyond Nuclear recently published the following concerns related to nuclear facilities in Ukraine:

Damaged nuclear power plants or radioactive storage sites could result in devastating radioactive impacts in the region.

Therefore, we, the undersigned, call on the IAEA to:

Endorsed by:

Beyond NuclearCanadian Coalition for Nuclear ResponsibilityCitizens Nuclear Information Center, JapanDiaNuke.orgManhattan Project for a Nuclear-Free WorldOntario Clean Air AllianceOregon Physicians for Social ResponsibilityVeterans For Peace Golden Rule ProjectVeterans For Peace Linus Pauling Chapter 132 Corvallis-Albany, ORWorld BEYOND War

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Open letter from civil society organizations regarding the situation in Ukraine - PRESSENZA International News Agency