IAEA to Inspect 2 Ukrainian Sites Russia Alleges Are Producing 'Dirty Bombs'
By Margaret Besheer October 27, 2022
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi said Thursday that inspectors should arrive and start working in a couple of days at two facilities in Ukraine that Russia has alleged are diverting nuclear material to make a "dirty bomb."
"I had a very comprehensive discussion with [Ukrainian] Foreign Minister [Dmytro] Kuleba about this," Grossi told reporters at the United Nations in New York. "He came to the conclusion, and I agreed, that the best way to dispel any doubt is to allow the inspectors in."
For several days, Russian officials have alleged that Ukraine is planning to develop and use a so-called dirty bomb in its conflict with Russia. Ukraine and its Western allies have strongly denied the allegations and suspect they are being made as a pretext for some type of escalation in the war in Ukraine, possibly a "false-flag" operation by Moscow.
Dirty bombs combine conventional explosives with radioactive material and are designed to spread radioactivity that can cause massive death and contamination.
"In this case, there has been a very clear indication from a very high official of the Russian Federation about work - clandestine work, in fact - to divert nuclear material," the IAEA chief told reporters after he met with the U.N. Security Council in a private meeting.
He said IAEA inspectors would be looking to see if fuel at the facilities has been reprocessed in some way to extract two isotopes - caesium and strontium - that are used in making radiological bombs.
Grossi said inspectors would be able to make their conclusions within days.
He said one of the facilities the team members are visiting is a unit they visited a month ago "with good result."
Grossi also briefed council members on his efforts to establish a demilitarized zone around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Russian troops have occupied the massive plant since early March, while Ukrainian technicians continue to operate it. It has been the frequent site of shelling, raising the stakes for a nuclear accident.
The IAEA chief has traveled between Moscow and Kyiv in recent weeks to discuss parameters for a demilitarized zone.
"This discussion is taking far too long," he said. "We should have concluded already; we should have established a protection zone."
He said this was one of his key messages to Security Council members.
"I hope to be able to do it in a matter of days, if possible," he said of the zone. "I will keep pushing, I can guarantee you that."
Power cuts
Earlier Thursday, Ukrenergo, Ukraine's state energy company, said it was limiting electricity use in multiple regions of the country after Russian attacks overnight targeted energy infrastructure.
Ukrenergo said damage from the strikes included equipment in the central part of the country. It said restrictions on power use were necessary to avoid network overloads and to make it easier to fix damaged facilities.
The new attacks on Ukrainian energy sites came as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked workers in the energy sector for their efforts to stabilize the power grid.
"No matter what the enemy does, our task is to break its plans and protect Ukraine. And this is not just someone's task, it concerns not only energy workers or anyone else. Conscious energy consumption is now needed by all Ukrainians," Zelenskyy said in his nightly address on Wednesday.
A Russia-installed official in Crimea said Thursday that an overnight drone attack had targeted a thermal power plant in the Russia-annexed peninsula.
The official said there was no threat to the power supply there and that there were no casualties.
Nuclear exercises
The Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday remotely observed exercises by the nation's strategic nuclear forces that were meant to simulate a response to a "massive nuclear strike."
Russian state television showed video of Putin observing the drills on a huge television screen, with comments from military leaders. In the broadcast, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said the drills involved a nuclear submarine, long-range aircraft and multiple practice launches of ballistic and cruise missiles.
The White House said Tuesday that Russia had given notice it was going to stage the annual exercises, called "Grom" or "Thunder." They came as NATO began its own annual nuclear exercise, known as "Steadfast Noon," on Monday.
Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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