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☆ 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.

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.

☆ Scrooge Christmas averted as new tree found for Vatican
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] People gather for the lightning of the Vatican Christmas tree during a ceremony in St. Peter's Square, with protocols in place due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at the Vatican, December 11, 2020. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane/File PhotoVATICAN CITY, Nov 15 (Reuters) - It could have been a not so merry Christmas for the Vatican this year. Rosello has trees but apparently not as majestic. Forest officials saved the day, offering to give Rosello a tree from their property in another part of the Abruzzo mountains so that the town can donate it to the pope. "It will be a happy Christmas after all," Col. Gianluca Grossi of the area's forest police told Reuters.

☆ 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.

☆ 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.

☆ 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.

Seoul, South Korea CNN —The South Korean military said Wednesday North Korea launched the highest number of short-range missiles in a day as Seoul retaliated to Pyongyang’s latest barrage of weapons tests, further escalating tensions in the region. JCS said the South Korean Air Force targeted international waters north of the NLL at an equal distance to that which the North Korean missile had earlier landed south of the line. North Korea is “fully responsible” for the situation as they are the ones continuing to provoke despite warnings, JCS added. South Korea responded to North Korea's barrage of missiles on Wednesday by firing three air-to-surface missiles from F-15K and KF-16 fighter jets. Correction: This story has been updated to clarify that this is not the first time North and South Korea have fired missiles off their respective coasts, and to reflect that North Korea fired a number of missiles of various types and the distance in kilometers from the NLL.

☆ North Korea fires missiles toward sea as U.S. warns against using nuclear weapons
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

South Korea’s military has strengthened its surveillance posture and maintains readiness amid close coordination with the United States, it said. North Korea sees such regular drills by Seoul and Washington as practice for launching an attack on the North, though the allies say their exercises are defensive in nature. The area was apparently closer to South Korea than any other missile launch site North Korea has used so far this year. South Korea and the United States have strongly warned North Korea against using its nuclear weapons preemptively. North Korea has said the artillery firings were in reaction to South Korean live-fire exercises at land border areas.

☆ Iran is an ever more 'relevant' problem, nuclear watchdog chief says
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

VIENNA, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Iran is a problem that is ever more "relevant", the U.N. nuclear watchdog's chief, Rafael Grossi, said on Friday, in an apparent reference to the growing number of advanced centrifuges the Islamic Republic is using to enrich uranium. Asked in an on-stage discussion in Washington how he sees the world today, Grossi started with Iran rather than Ukraine and said it "continues to be a problem". "I see every day through my inspectors how this problem is getting more and more relevant, and I'm choosing a word which is neutral. It's an even more relevant problem every day," Grossi told the Carnegie International Nuclear Policy Conference, without elaborating. He added later that he would not cave to political pressure over his investigation of the uranium traces and his efforts to obtain explanations from Iran on how they came to be there.

☆ IAEA preparing to inspect two sites in Ukraine over 'dirty bomb' claims
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

VIENNA, Oct 24 (Reuters) - The U.N. nuclear watchdog is preparing to send inspectors in the coming days to two Ukrainian sites at Kyiv's request, it said on Monday, in an apparent reaction to Russian claims that Ukraine could deploy a so-called dirty bomb, which Ukraine denies. read moreRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register"The IAEA is preparing to visit the locations in the coming days. The purpose of the safeguards visits is to detect any possible undeclared nuclear activities and material," it added. "No undeclared nuclear activities or material were found there." Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted earlier in the day that he had spoken to Grossi and urged him to "send experts to peaceful facilities in Ukraine which Russia deceitfully claims to be developing a "dirty bomb."

☆ EXCLUSIVE At least half of Ukraine's thermal power capacity hit by Russian strikes - minister
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Max Hunder | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Firefighters work to put out a fire in a thermal power plant, damaged by a Russian missile strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, October 18, 2022. I can tell you that it's... at least half of thermal generation capacity, even more," Galushchenko said, when asked about the scale of the damage. Earlier this week towns and cities restricted power supplies and limited electricity use this week so energy companies could repair power facilities hit by a wave of Russian air strikes. He said he saw no signs of progress towards a deal involving Russia, Ukraine and the U.N. nuclear watchdog on resolving the situation at the plant, Europe's biggest nuclear power station. Russian forces have occupied the plant in southern Ukraine since shortly after Moscow's invasion but it is still operated by its Ukrainian staff.

☆ EXCLUSIVE At least half of Ukraine's thermal power capacity hit by Russian strikes -minister
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Max Hunder | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Firefighters work to put out a fire in a thermal power plant, damaged by a Russian missile strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, October 18, 2022. I can tell you that it's... at least half of thermal (power) generation capacity, even more," Galushchenko said, when asked about the scale of the damage. Earlier this week towns and cities restricted power supplies and limited electricity use this week so energy companies could repair power facilities hit by a wave of Russian air strikes. He said he saw no signs of progress towards a deal involving Russia, Ukraine and the United Nations nuclear watchdog on resolving the situation at the plant, Europe's biggest nuclear power station. Russian forces have occupied the plant in southern Ukraine since shortly after Moscow's invasion but it is still operated by its Ukrainian staff.

BUENOS AIRES, Oct 18 (Reuters) - International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi expects to return "soon" to Ukraine, he told Reuters on Tuesday, amid negotiations to establish a security protection zone around the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. The talks are seen as key to defusing concerns that have mounted since August about the risks of shelling at or near Zaporizhzhia, Europe's largest nuclear power station. Russia and Ukraine have both blamed each other for the shelling. The head of the IAEA, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, said that separate Russian threats to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine could not be ruled out but that it was "not an immediate possibility". "I believe that the possibility of Russia using nuclear weapons is not an immediate possibility.

☆ U.N. nuclear watchdog concerned about detention of two Zaporizhzhia staff
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

VIENNA, Oct 18 (Reuters) - The U.N. nuclear watchdog on Tuesday said its chief Rafael Grossi was deeply concerned by the detention of two Ukrainian staff from the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP), which Ukraine says was a kidnapping by Russia. "The IAEA team on site has learned of the release of a ZNPP Deputy Director General, Valeriy Martynyuk, who was detained early last week," the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a statement. "However, Director General Grossi expressed deep concern about the recent detentions of two other ZNPP staff members, which have been confirmed by the IAEA." Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Francois Murphy; Editing by Mark PorterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Ukraine says Russia hits power site near Kyiv
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-15 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

"Putin knew he would not be able to sustain high-intensity missiles strikes for a long time due to a dwindling arsenal of high-precision missiles," the think tank said. Vorontsov explained the move by citing Moscow's concern about the possibility of the deployment of U.S. nuclear weapons in Poland near the borders of Belarus and Russia. He emphasized that in compliance with the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, Russia had no intention for now of fitting nuclear warheads to Belarusian weapons systems or transferring nuclear warheads to the territory of Belarus. He said the shelling of the city of Nikopol, which is located across the Dnieper from the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, damaged a dozen residential buildings, several stores and a transportation facility. "Working in very challenging conditions, operating staff at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant are doing everything they can to bolster its fragile offsite power situation," Grossi said.

☆ Explainer: What are the risks to Ukraine's nuclear reactors in war
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Guy Faulconbridge | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

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. Special Russian military units guard the facility and Russian nuclear specialists are on site.

☆ Russia has kidnapped deputy head of Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, Ukraine says
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

KYIV, Oct 11 (Reuters) - A deputy head of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine has been kidnapped by Russian forces and is being detained in an unknown location, Ukraine's state nuclear energy company Energoatom said on Tuesday. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterThe incident follows the detention of the plant's then-chief, Ihor Murashov, on Oct. 1. The facility, Europe's largest nuclear plant, was captured by Russia in the early days of the invasion of Ukraine, but is still operated by Ukrainian staff. Russia announced plans last week for its personnel to take control of the plant, a move that was rejected by Energoatom chief Petro Kotin. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Max Hunder and Francois Murphy; editing by Matthias WilliamsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi addresses the 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. Headquarters in New York City, U.S., September 21, 2022. After a meeting with Raisi on Tuesday in New York, French President Emmanuel Macron said that "the ball on reaching a nuclear deal with Iran is now in Tehran's camp". The agreement limited Iran’s uranium enrichment activity to make it harder for Tehran to develop nuclear arms, in return for lifting international sanctions. Biden cannot provide such ironclad assurances because the deal is a political understanding rather than a legally binding treaty. Western diplomats have said they will not back down on this issue and it is up to Iran to make the right choice.

REUTERS/Shannon StapletonUNITED NATIONS, Sept 21 (Reuters) - The United States and Iran clashed on security and human rights on Wednesday, with Iran's president demanding U.S. guarantees to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and the U.S. president vowing Tehran would never get an atomic bomb. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register"There is a great and serious will to resolve all issues to revive the (2015 nuclear) deal," Raisi told the U.N. General Assembly. In 2018, Trump withdrew the United States from the nuclear deal and unilaterally reimposed sanctions that have hobbled Iran's economy. "We have before us the experience of America's withdrawal from the (deal)," Raisi said. "The Islamic Republic considers the double standards of some governments in the field of human rights as the most important factor in the institutionalization of human rights violations," Raisi said in a text of his speech released by his office.

EuropeIAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said he remained gravely concerned about the situation at the nuclear plant, which sits close to the front line of the Ukraine war, urging the establishment of a safety zone around the site as soon as possible.

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