As of: 03/09/2022 08:29 a.m
The International Atomic Energy Agency is no longer connected to the monitoring devices of the Chernobyl nuclear ruins in Ukraine. In addition, the situation of the personnel detained by the Russian army is deteriorating.
The former Ukrainian nuclear power plant Chernobyl has been increasingly cut off from the outside world since it was taken by Russian units. The monitoring systems of the atomic ruins meanwhile no longer transmitted any data to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), as its head Rafael Grossi announced.
The head of the IAEA pointed out “that the remote data transmission of the monitoring systems installed in the Chernobyl nuclear power plant has failed,” the authority said in Vienna. “The agency is currently assessing the status of surveillance systems at other locations in Ukraine and will provide more information shortly.” The IAEA’s systems are designed to determine whether radioactive material is escaping.
Staff has been working for 13 days straight
The Russian army had captured the terrain in northern Ukraine on the first day of its invasion. More than 200 technical workers and security guards have since been trapped at the site. You have now been working 13 days straight without relief.
According to the IAEA, the Ukrainian authorities can only communicate with their local employees by email. “The situation of the staff is deteriorating,” the agency warned, citing Ukrainian authorities. Typically, more than 2,000 people work in rotating shifts in the restricted area.
Grossi: “I am deeply concerned”
The UN organization called on Russia to have the employees replaced because rest periods are crucial for the safety of the plant. “I am deeply concerned about the difficult and stressful situation faced by the staff at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and the potential risks this poses to nuclear safety,” Grossi said. He reiterated his offer to personally travel to Chernobyl or another nuclear site in Ukraine to negotiate nuclear safeguards in the war.
In 1986, a devastating accident occurred at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, killing hundreds of people and spreading radioactive material across Europe. The power plant has since been shut down, and a huge protective shell is designed to prevent the escape of radioactivity.
Russian forces also attacked and captured Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, Zaporizhia, last week. A fire broke out on the premises. The IAEA had said that two of the six reactors there were still in operation, that the plant’s personnel worked in shifts and that radiation levels remained stable.