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☆ Iran to enrich uranium to 60% purity at Fordow nuclear site - TV
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

DUBAI, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Iran has started enriching uranium to 60% purity at its underground Fordow nuclear site, according to state media on Tuesday, which described the action as a response to the U.N. nuclear watchdog's demand for more cooperation from Tehran. "In a letter to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iran has informed the agency that it has started enriching uranium to 60% purity at Fordow site," the semi-official ISNA news agency reported, adding that it was a "strong response" to the agency's latest resolution. Iran's SNN network said Tehran will also be building a new set of centrifuges at its Natanz and Fordow nuclear sites. In June, Reuters reported that Tehran was escalating its uranium enrichment further by preparing to use advanced IR-6 centrifuges at the Fordow site, which can easily switch between enrichment levels. The IAEA resolution is the second this year targeting Iran over the investigation, which has become an obstacle to talks on reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal because Iran has demanded the probe be ended.

☆ Explainer: Ukrainian nuclear plant shelled: Here's what we know
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Guy Faulconbridge | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The biggest risk is from overheating nuclear fuel, which could happen if the power that drives the cooling systems was cut. Besides the reactors, there is also a dry spent fuel storage facility at the site for used nuclear fuel assemblies, and spent fuel pools at each reactor site that are used to cool down the used nuclear fuel. "Whoever is shelling at the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant, is taking huge risks and gambling with many people's lives," Grossi said. "The regime in Kyiv does not cease provocations aimed at creating a threat of a disaster at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant," the Russian defence ministry said. "The nature of the damaged equipment at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant shows that the attackers aimed at, and disabled, precisely the infrastructure that was necessary for the start-up of reactors 5 and 6," Energoatom said.

☆ Explainer: 'Close call' at Ukrainian nuclear plant
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Guy Faulconbridge | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, Nov 21 (Reuters) - Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is under Russian control, was rocked by shelling on Sunday, drawing condemnation from the U.N. nuclear watchdog which said such attacks risked a major disaster. Besides the reactors, there is also a dry spent fuel storage facility at the site for used nuclear fuel assemblies, and spent fuel pools at each reactor site that are used to cool down the used nuclear fuel. "Whoever is shelling at the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant, is taking huge risks and gambling with many people's lives," Grossi said. "The regime in Kyiv does not cease provocations aimed at creating a threat of a disaster at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant," the Russian defence ministry said. "The nature of the damaged equipment at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant shows that the attackers aimed at, and disabled, precisely the infrastructure that was necessary for the start-up of reactors 5 and 6," Energoatom said.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said more than a dozen blasts shook the nuclear plant late on Saturday and on Sunday. The team plans to conduct an assessment on Monday, Grossi said, but Russian nuclear power operator Rosenergoatom said there would be curbs on what the team could inspect. EAST UNDER RUSSIAN FIREIn eastern Ukraine, Russian forces battered Ukrainian front-line positions with artillery fire, with the heaviest attacks in the Donetsk region, Zelenskiy said in a video address. "The fiercest battles, as before, are in the Donetsk region. Although there were fewer attacks today due to worsening weather, the amount of Russian shelling unfortunately remains extremely high," Zelenskiy said.

☆ Russia, blaming Ukraine, says Zaporizhzhia plant at risk of nuclear accident
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Guy Faulconbridge | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] A view shows the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in the course of Ukraine-Russia conflict outside the Russian-controlled city of Enerhodar in Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine August 30, 2022. REUTERS/Alexander ErmochenkoSummary Rosatom warns of nuclear accidentKremlin concerned by shellingIAEA calls it a 'close call'Moscow blames Ukraine, Kyiv blames RussiaLONDON, Nov 21 (Reuters) - Russia said on Monday that shelling of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant risked unleashing a grave nuclear accident and repeated accusations, denied by Kyiv, that Ukrainian forces were to blame. The Kremlin called on "all countries of the world" to pressure Kyiv into ceasing the attacks, for which Ukraine says Russia is responsible. "The plant is at risk of a nuclear accident," Alexei Likhachev, the director general of Russia's Rosatom state nuclear corporation, was quoted as saying by Interfax. The power plant, which is under Russian control, was rocked by heavy shelling on Saturday and Sunday, drawing condemnation from the U.N. nuclear watchdog which said such attacks risked a major disaster.

☆ Explainer: The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant: who controls it and why is it important?
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Guy Faulconbridge | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

LONDON, Nov 21 (Reuters) - Repeated shelling of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine has raised the possibility of a grave accident just 500 km (300 miles) from the site of the world's worst nuclear accident, the 1986 Chornobyl disaster. What nuclear material is at Europe's largest nuclear power plant, what are the risks and why are Russia and Ukraine fighting over it? The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has six Soviet-designed VVER-1000 V-320 water-cooled and water-moderated reactors containing Uranium 235, which has a half-life of more than 700 million years. The biggest risk is from overheating nuclear fuel, which could happen if the power that drives the cooling systems was cut. Besides the reactors, there is also a dry spent fuel storage facility at the site for used nuclear fuel assemblies, and spent fuel pools at each reactor site that are used to cool down the used nuclear fuel.

☆ 'Close call' in shelling near nuclear reactor on Ukraine's frontline
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Pavel Polityuk | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

While there was no direct impact on nuclear safety and security systems, "the shelling came dangerously close", Grossi said. A view shows Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant from the town of Nikopol, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine November 7, 2022. The Zaporizhzhia plant itself and territory south of it fell to Russia in March. The Zaporizhzhia plant provided about a fifth of Ukraine's electricity before Russia's invasion, and has been forced to operate on back-up generators a number of times. Although there were fewer attacks today due to worsening weather, the amount of Russian shelling unfortunately remains extremely high," Zelenskiy said.

☆ Top Russian official warns of possible nuclear accident at Zaporizhzhia
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Nov 21 (Reuters) - The head of Russia's state-run atomic energy agency, Rosatom, warned on Monday there was a risk of a nuclear accident at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe's largest, following renewed shelling over the weekend. "The plant is at risk of a nuclear accident. We were in negotiations with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) all night," Interfax quoted Rosatom CEO Alexei Likhachev as saying. The Rosatom head also said it appeared Kyiv was willing to "accept" a "small nuclear accident" at the nuclear power station"This will be a precedent that will forever change the course of history. Therefore everything must be done so that no one has in their minds to violate the security of the nuclear power plant," TASS quoted him as saying.

SummarySummary Companies IAEA says Ukraine plant rocked by 12 blastsPlant is controlled by Russian forcesRussia says Ukraine shelled the plant'You're playing with fire!' - IAEA chiefLONDON, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is under Russian control, was rocked by shelling on Sunday, drawing condemnation from the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog who said such attacks risked a major nuclear disaster. An IAEA team on the ground said there had been damage to some buildings, systems and equipment at the plant, Europe's largest nuclear power station. "Explosions occurred at the site of this major nuclear power plant, which is completely unacceptable. The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has six Soviet-designed VVER-1000 V-320 water-cooled and water-moderated reactors containing Uranium 235, which has a half-life of more than 700 million years.

☆ More than a dozen powerful explosions at a huge Russian-occupied nuclear power plant in south Ukraine, says IAEA
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( Bethany Dawson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Renewed shelling near Ukraine's Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant in the last 24 hours. "Powerful explosions shook the area," said the IAEA in a statement. Grossi said that there is an "urgent need for measures to help prevent a nuclear accident." "Powerful explosions shook the area," said the IAEA in a statement. The Director General has been pushing for a nuclear safety and security zone around the power plant, said: "I'm not giving up until this zone has become a reality.

☆ Ukraine nuclear power station shelled, UN nuclear watchdog says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

This photo taken on Sept. 11, 2022, shows a security person standing in front of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Enerhodar, Zaporizhzhia, amid the Ukraine war. Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is under Russian control, was rocked by shelling on Sunday, drawing condemnation from the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog who said such attacks risked a major nuclear disaster. An IAEA team on the ground said there had been damage to some buildings, systems and equipment at the plant, Europe's largest nuclear power station. "Explosions occurred at the site of this major nuclear power plant, which is completely unacceptable. The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has six Soviet-designed VVER-1000 V-320 water-cooled and water-moderated reactors containing Uranium 235, which has a half-life of more than 700 million years.

☆ ‘The Hole’: Gruesome Accounts of Russian Occupation Emerge From Ukrainian Nuclear Plant
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Joe Parkinson | Drew Hinshaw | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine—Hooded and handcuffed, Ihor Murashov , director general of Europe’s largest nuclear plant, was on the stone floor of a basement prison, accused by masked men of betraying Russia. He could hear the captors interrogating his chauffeur. The 46-year-old Mr. Murashov, who had led the occupied Zaporizhzhia atomic energy station for seven months, was ordered by gun-brandishing guards to face the lens of a video camera. “What you say now will determine your fate,” he recalled one telling him.

☆ Russian Occupation of Nuclear Plant Turns Brutal, With Accusations of Torture and Beatings
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Joe Parkinson | Drew Hinshaw | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

☆ Russia beat, starved, and electrocuted people from a captured Ukrainian nuclear power plant in a web of underground prisons, escaped workers say
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Charles R. Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Russia has been torturing workers at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, former employees say. The plant in occupied southeastern Ukraine is Europe's largest nuclear power facility. Russian forces captured the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant soon after the Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine. He and other workers described being beaten, starved, and electrocuted by their interrogators; some were also shot, with at least one employee being tortured to death. Energoatom, Ukraine's state-run nuclear power company, said at least 200 workers have been detained, the Journal reported.

☆ Iran Rebuked by U.N. Over Stonewalling of Its Nuclear Investigation
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Laurence Norman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The board of the United Nations’ atomic-energy agency formally rebuked Iran on Thursday for failing to cooperate with its investigation into the country’s nuclear activities, Western diplomats said, as hopes for a revived nuclear-containment deal with Tehran dim further. The International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board voted overwhelmingly in favor of a resolution, proposed by the U.S. and European countries, demanding that Iran stop stonewalling the agency’s investigation into undeclared nuclear material found in the country.

☆ IAEA board passes resolution ordering Iran to cooperate with probe
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Francois Murphy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

VIENNA, Nov 17 (Reuters) - The U.N. atomic watchdog's 35-nation Board of Governors passed a resolution on Thursday ordering Iran to cooperate urgently with the agency's investigation into uranium traces found at three undeclared sites, diplomats at the closed-door vote said. More immediately, Iran tends to bristle at such resolutions and it remained to be seen what action it would take. In June Iran removed additional IAEA monitoring equipment including surveillance cameras installed under its 2015 deal with world powers to curb its disputed uranium enrichment programme. On Thursday it indicated it would call off a meeting with the IAEA due to be held later this month meant to end the impasse over explaining the origin of the uranium traces. The IAEA responded by saying it hoped the meeting would take place.

☆ Exclusive: U.S., EU powers push IAEA board to order Iran to cooperate urgently
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Francois Murphy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The draft resolution was sent to other countries on the 35-nation International Atomic Energy Agency Board of Governors on Friday ahead of a quarterly meeting that starts on Wednesday. It also comes the day after the IAEA issued a report, also seen by Reuters, on the years-long investigation into the traces. Iran has agreed to hold a meeting with IAEA officials in Tehran after next week's board meeting to make progress in the stalled inquiry. The draft resolution referred to Thursday's IAEA report, which said IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi was "seriously concerned that there has still been no progress". The board passed a similar resolution in June, when only China and Russia opposed it.

☆ Iran Fails to Provide Answers to U.N. in Nuclear-Material Probe
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Laurence Norman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Rafael Mariano Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, in New York last month. Iran hasn’t offered any new answers to the United Nations atomic agency’s probe into nuclear material found in Tehran, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Thursday, opening the way for a fresh formal rebuke of Iran from member states, diplomats said. In two confidential reports circulated to member states, the IAEA also said Iran’s high-grade enriched uranium stockpile continued to grow and warned that Iran’s decision to remove agency cameras from nuclear-related facilities made it harder for the Agency “to provide assurance of the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program.”

The U.S. Energy Department's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, or ARPA-E, aims to develop a dozen projects to recycle spent nuclear fuel. "I don't see many really looking seriously into reprocessing," Grossi told Reuters in an interview late on Wednesday at the COP27 climate summit in Egypt. Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter had halted reprocessing of nuclear waste in 1977, citing proliferation concerns. "Nobody will be doing reprocessing without the IAEA being involved," he said, noting that any nuclear waste recycling North Korea is undertaking is an exception. The United States has spent billions of dollars over decades on a project at Yucca Mountain in Nevada to store nuclear waste.

☆ Iran sets up meeting on U.N. nuclear inquiry as diplomatic clash looms
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Francois Murphy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/2] The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Vienna, Austria, March 1, 2021. The IAEA has said it will not yield to political pressure and its job is to account for all nuclear material. The E3 and the United States will hold talks in Paris on Monday to discuss Iran ahead of the board meeting, two diplomats said. Iran has recently installed hundreds more advanced centrifuges, machines that enrich uranium, at its underground plants at Natanz and Fordow. Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons, saying its nuclear technology is solely for civil purposes.

"Many countries faced with sharply rising energy costs and heightened security of supply concerns are turning to nuclear power," the IAEA said in a release announcing the exhibit. "We don't get to net zero by 2050 without nuclear power in the mix." The United States has already earmarked billions of dollars toward keeping existing nuclear power plants open as part of a broader strategy to decarbonize the economy and is hoping to encourage new projects. The nuclear power industry has had trouble raising money in recent years, having taken a huge public relations hit following the 2011 reactor meltdown at the Fukushima power plant in Japan. Even so, Hannah Fenwick, the co-lead of Nuclear for Climate which represents a network of 150 associations advocating for governments to embrace nuclear power, said her organization was lobbying policy-makers at COP27 to consider nuclear energy investments and was getting decent feedback.

☆ Iran offers nothing new in latest meeting, UN nuclear watchdog says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi attends the opening of the IAEA General Conference at their headquarters in Vienna, Austria, September 26, 2022. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger/File PhotoSHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, Nov 9 (Reuters) - The head of the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog on Wednesday said Iran did not offer anything new during a recent meeting in Vienna about its nuclear program, but added that talks would continue in the coming weeks. “So, they didn't bring anything new,” IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi told Reuters on the sidelines of the COP27 climate conference in Egypt. That pact had restrained Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for relief from U.S., EU and U.N. economic sanctions, but former U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from it in 2018, claiming Iran was in violation. Indirect talks between Tehran and U.S. President Joe Biden's administration on reviving the largely hollowed-out deal are stalled.

☆ External power restored to Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, IAEA says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

VIENNA, Nov 5 (Reuters) - External power has been restored to Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant two days after it was disconnected from the power grid after Russian shelling damaged high voltage lines, the U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Saturday. Both the plant's external power lines were repaired and reconnection started on Friday afternoon, Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said in a statement. Grossi reiterated his call for the establishment of a nuclear safety and security protection zone around the plant to prevent a nuclear accident, adding: "We can't afford to lose any more time. We must act before it is too late." Writing by Paul Carrel; Editing by Andrew HeavensOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Zelenskyy hails UN nuclear investigation result; UK says Russia likely shooting retreating soldiers
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy praised the work of the International Atomic Energy Agency after it wrapped up its inspection of three nuclear power facilities in Ukraine and found no evidence of undeclared nuclear material or activities. The inspection, which was prompted by Kyiv inviting IAEA officials to its facilities, was welcome news after Moscow accused Ukraine of building a so-called radioactive "dirty bomb" to use on its own territory. The results of the inspection confirmed Russia's "status of the world's top liar," Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in a tweet. Meanwhile, Russian missiles hit populated areas of Ukraine's southern Zaporizhzhia, the region's governor said, although no casualties were reported. Accounts of this have been shared in independent Russian media outlets.

☆ No Evidence of Undeclared Nuclear Activities at Ukraine Sites, U.N. Atomic Agency Says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Laurence Norman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, at a media briefing on Sunday in New York. BERLIN—The United Nations atomic agency said this week’s inspections in Ukraine found no evidence of activities or nuclear material that hadn’t been declared by Kyiv, rebuffing Russian allegations that the country was working on a dirty bomb. The agency’s Thursday statement, which came after it sent inspectors to three sites in Ukraine at Kyiv’s request, is the latest pushback against Russian allegations against Ukraine and its Western allies. On Wednesday, the U.N. Security Council defeated a Russian resolution alleging there were biological weapons in Ukraine.

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