With Russian cavalier attitude to nuclear safety in Ukraine the UK ONR have issued a statement about the situation. There have been reports about the security of the disused Chernobyl site and also another nuclear facility which the Russian military fired on before occupying it.
Fallout from incidents in Eastern Europe involving nuclear plants are well known. The disaster released at least 100 times more radiation than the atom bombs dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. The Chernobyl accident also showed how widespread the pollution can be with areas of the IOM, N Wales, Scotland, N England and Ireland polluted (see map).
The ONR statement issued just over a week ago says:
“Civil nuclear facilities in Ukraine
14 March, 2022
“As a nuclear regulator, we are concerned by the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and any risk to civil nuclear facilities.
“The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is closely monitoring developments relating to nuclear facilities in the region, in line with its international mandate. The Agency in contact with the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine (SNRIU) and is publishing regular statements on its news website link to external website and social media platforms: Twitter @iaeaorg link to external website and LinkedIn – International Atomic Energy Agency link to external website
“We are continuing to track the evolving situation, keeping in very close contact with our international counterparts from around the world. This includes the European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group (ENSREG) and their latest statements can be found on the ENSREG website link to external website.
“We are also engaging with the Western European Nuclear Regulators Association (WENRA) who have recently published a statement on their website link to external website in response to the situation in Ukraine, in conjunction with the Heads of the European Radiological Protection Competent Authorities (HERCA).
“As a regulatory community, we are extremely grateful to the Ukrainian regulator, SNRIU, and its staff for their unwavering commitment in continuing to provide timely reports on the state of nuclear safety and the radiological situation in the country, despite extremely challenging conditions.
“As this is an international matter, the Office for Nuclear Regulation will not be providing media interviews at this stage.
Link here:
https://news.onr.org.uk/2022/03/civil-nuclear-facilities-in-ukraine/
Bernard Moffatt
AGS Celtic League (submitted 25th March 2022)
