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☆ Situation around Europe's largest nuclear power plant is 'potentially dangerous,' watchdog warns
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( Leila Sackur | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Members of the delegation of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) visit the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine on March 29, 2023. The situation in the area near Europe's largest nuclear power plant is "becoming increasingly unpredictable and potentially dangerous," the head of the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog said Saturday. International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi said in a statement that he was "extremely concerned about the very real nuclear safety and security risk," facing the Zaporizhzhia power plant in southeast Ukraine. "I'm extremely concerned about the very real nuclear safety and security risks facing the plant. The 1986 disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant near the northern Ukrainian city of Pripyat is considered the worst on record.

☆ IAEA head warns of dangers around Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

May 6 (Reuters) - The head of the U.N.'s nuclear power watchdog warned on Saturday that the situation around the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear station had become "increasingly unpredictable and potentially dangerous" and called for measures to ensure its safe operation. "The general situation in the area near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is becoming increasingly unpredictable and potentially dangerous," Grossi said on the agency's website. Russian forces seized the Zaporizhzhia plant days after President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of his neighbour in February 2022. Russia last September proclaimed the annexation of four Ukrainian regions, including Zaporizhzhia region. A widely expected Ukrainian spring counter-offensive against Russian forces viewed as likely to take in the Zaporizhzhia region, around 80% of which is held by Moscow.

☆ IAEA warns of dangers around Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant as evacuations under way
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

May 6 (Reuters) - The head of the U.N.'s nuclear power watchdog warned on Saturday that the situation around the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear station has become "potentially dangerous" as Moscow-installed officials began evacuating people from nearby areas. Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), called for measures to ensure the safe operation of Europe's largest nuclear plant as evacuations were under way in the nearby town of Enerhodar. "The general situation in the area near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is becoming increasingly unpredictable and potentially dangerous," Grossi said on the agency's website. A widely expected Ukrainian spring counter-offensive against Russian forces is viewed as likely to take in the Zaporizhzhia region, around 80% of which is held by Moscow. Russian forces seized the Zaporizhzhia plant days after President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of his neighbour in February 2022.

Peskov did not provide any evidence to his claims, nor additional details regarding the alleged attack, saying that information would be released later. Earlier this week, Russia claimed Ukraine launched a drone strike targeting the Kremlin in an attempt to assassinate Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling it a “planned terrorist attack.” Ukraine has strongly denied any involvement. The United States had nothing to do with this. Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty ImagesRyabkov also accused US officials of trying to “promote the idea of Washington’s non-involvement” in the purported drone attack, TASS reported. “Washington has long been a direct party to the Ukrainian conflict and aims to destroy sovereign Russia,” he said, according to TASS.

Inspectors from the United Nations’ nuclear agency visited the Zaporizhzhia nuclear-power plant last year. Photo: Yuri Kochetkov/ShutterstockThe United Nations atomic energy agency is racing to prevent Russia’s war in Ukraine from endangering the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, Europe’s largest, as fighting nearby intensifies. Artillery fire and explosions now ring out nearly every day at the six-reactor plant that sprawls near an active front line and is occupied by Russian security agents.

☆ Sam Altman is building his utopia, whether you want it or not
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Melia Russell | Julia Black | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +41 min

Altman told Insider, "We debate our approach frequently and carefully." "I don't think anyone can lose your dad young and wish he didn't have more time with him," Altman told Insider. Altman told Insider that his thinking had evolved since those posts. (When asked about guns, Altman told Insider he'd been "happy to have one both times my home was broken into while I was there.") When asked about this, Altman told Insider in an email: "i can guess what that's about; these stories grow crazily inflated over the years of getting re-told!

☆ He's played chess with Peter Thiel, sparred with Elon Musk and once, supposedly, stopped a plane crash: Inside Sam Altman's world, where truth is stranger than fiction
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Melia Russell | Julia Black | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +41 min

But, "you do at some point need to start having contact with reality," he told Insider. The plan was still only a rough sketch, Blania told Insider, but that didn't seem to matter to his host. "He always wanted to understand everything at a very deep level," Thrun told Insider in an email. (When asked about guns, Altman told Insider he'd been "happy to have one both times my home was broken into while I was there.") When asked about this, Altman told Insider in an email: "i can guess what that's about; these stories grow crazily inflated over the years of getting re-told!

☆ Ukraine's nuclear power plants are still a source of nightmares years after the Chornobyl disaster
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

A Ukrainian army soldier stands guard at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant on April 26, 2022, in Chornobyl, Ukraine. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday commemorated the Chornobyl nuclear power plant disaster on April 26, 1986, saying that the events on that day "left a huge scar on the whole world." The disaster is still seen as the most serious accident in the history of nuclear power operation although Ukraine has remained heavily dependent on nuclear energy. Today, its nuclear power plants have once again become a source of nightmares as fears abound for their safety and security amid the relentless fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces. Most concerns around the safe functioning of the country's power plants amid war have centered on the the nuclear power plant located in Zaporizhzhia in southern Ukraine, which also happens to be Europe's largest nuclear power plant.

☆ Japan nuclear disaster: Fukushima's fishing industry fears Tokyo's next move may finish it off
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Emiko Jozuka Krystina Shveda Junko Ogura Marc Stewart Daniel Campisi | Emiko Jozuka | Krystina Shveda | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

Ocean currents have since dispersed the contaminated water enough that radioactive Cesium is nearly undetectable in fish from Fukushima prefecture. A year before the 2011 disaster, government data shows Fukushima’s coastal fishing industry landed catches worth around $69 million. At the same time, ground and rainwater have leaked in, creating more radioactive wastewater that now needs to be stored and treated. This isotope is radioactive tritium, and the scientific community is divided on the risk its dissemination carries. He argues TEPCO should build more storage tanks to allow for the decay of the radioactive tritium, which has a half-life of 12.3 years.

Below are key extracts from the G7 climate, energy and environment ministers' communique, including the annex. RUSSIA"We condemn Russia's illegal, unjustifiable, and unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine;"We stand ready to support the sustainable and resilient recovery and green reconstruction of Ukraine." "Currently $13 billion fiscal support that can be used for domestic and foreign projects is prepared across the G7 countries." PLASTIC POLLUTION"We are committed to end plastic pollution, with the ambition to reduce additional plastic pollution to zero by 2040." Reporting by Katya Golubkova; Editing by David Dolan and William MallardOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Fact Check-Mammograms do not expose women to Hiroshima-level radiation
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Breast cancer screenings reduce deaths from breast cancer and have considerably lower radiation levels than nuclear or atomic bombs, contrary to claims circulating in a video on social media. Dr Veronique Desaulniers, a bio-energetic chiropractor according to her LinkedIn profile, warns about the purported dangers of breast cancer screening in the clip posted on Instagram (here). “A decade of annual mammography would yield a total radiation dose 10 times that: 3.6 mSv,” he adds. A reduction in breast cancer deaths has been primarily attributed to mammography screening and early breast cancer detection (here). There is a radiation risk to the breasts of teenagers and women in their early 20s due to development, however, the risk drops rapidly as women age, according to Kopans.

☆ Ukraine war live updates: Pentagon leak suspect, 21, to appear in court; Ukraine making withdrawals in Bakhmut, UK says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The suspect, Jack Teixeira, will appear in court Friday. Ukrainian forces are withdrawing from some positions in the eastern city of Bakhmut under heavy Russian fire, Britain's Ministry of Defense reported. Ukraine has for months refused to give up on its defense of Bakhmut, despite both sides suffering heavy casualties and the city being entirely destroyed. Kyiv says that conceding Bakhmut would give Russia a major access route to much more of eastern Ukraine. Meanwhile, International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi reiterated calls for relevant parties to establish a security perimeter around Ukraine's embattled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, warning "we are living on borrowed time when it comes to nuclear safety and security at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant."

☆ Nuclear Plant at Risk as Ukraine and Russia Gear Up for Spring Offensive
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Ian Lovett | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Military activity is increasing around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear-power plant, according to international atomic energy officials, as Ukrainian and Russian forces gear up for an expected increase in fighting this spring. “The situation is not improving—it is obvious that military activity is increasing in this whole region,” Rafael Grossi , director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency Agency, said Wednesday after a visit to the plant. “There’s a significant increase in the number of troops in the region and there is open talk about offensives, counteroffensives and so on.”

☆ UN nuclear boss visits Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/3] International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi is seen on his way to Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine March 29, 2023. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Press Service/Handout via REUTERSKYIV, March 29 (Reuters) - The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog visited the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station in southeastern Ukraine on Wednesday as part of efforts to avert the risk of an atomic accident. Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, arrived at Europe's largest nuclear power plant to review the situation there, an IAEA spokesperson said. Moscow and Kyiv have repeatedly accused each other of shelling the site of the power station over the last year. Grossi, who met President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Monday, described the situation at the plant as "very dangerous" and very unstable. The IAEA has had its own monitors stationed at the Zaporizhzhia plant since last year, when Grossi travelled to the facility and fears were mounting of the possibility for a nuclear accident.

☆ Ukraine says Russian forces make progress in frontline city of Bakhmut
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Pavel Polityuk | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

"Enemy forces had a degree of success in their actions aimed at storming the city of Bakhmut," the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said in its regular nighttime report. Russian officials say their forces are still capturing ground in street-by-street fighting inside Bakhmut. [1/5] A tank is towed through a road, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, near the bombed-out eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, in the eastern Donetsk region, Ukraine, March 29, 2023. Russian forces shelled towns in central Zaporizhzhia region, including the contested centre of Hulyaipole, the Ukrainian general staff statement said. Rocket and artillery in the past 24 hours struck two areas of concentration of Russian forces, an ammunition depot and two fuel depots, it said.

☆ Zelenskiy to IAEA: Russia holds nuclear plant hostage
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Dan Peleschuk | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

The president met Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, on Monday at the Dnipro hydroelectric power station - northeast of the Zaporizhzhia plant. Russian officials say they want to connect the Zaporizhzhia plant to the Russian grid. Russia said last month the construction of protective structures for key facilities at the Zaporizhzhia plant were nearing completion. "Holding a nuclear power station hostage for more than a year - this is surely the worst thing that has ever happened in the history of European or worldwide nuclear power," Zelenskiy said. Last week, the Ukrainian military warned that Avdiivka, a smaller town 90 km (55 miles) farther south, could become a "second Bakhmut" as Russia turns its attention there.

☆ Exclusive: IAEA confirms almost all missing uranium in Libya now accounted for
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Francois Murphy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

VIENNA, March 24 (Reuters) - Most of the roughly 2.5 tons of natural uranium ore concentrate (UOC) recently declared missing from a site in Libya have been found at that site, the U.N. nuclear watchdog told member states on Friday in a statement seen by Reuters. The International Atomic Energy Agency informed member states in a similar confidential statement on March 15 first reported by Reuters that 10 drums containing the UOC had gone missing from a Libyan site not under government control. "During the (inspection), Agency inspectors observed that drums that had not been present at the declared location at the time of the previous (inspection) had since been brought back and left in close proximity to the declared location," it said. "Agency inspectors confirmed that these drums contained UOC and witnessed their transfer back to within the declared location for storage," the statement added. Reporting by Francois Murphy; Editing by Leslie Adler and Alistair BellOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Depleted uranium is a dense by-product left over when uranium is enriched for use in nuclear reactors or nuclear weapons. The United States, Britain, Russia, China, France and Pakistan produce uranium weapons, which are not classified as nuclear weapons, according to the International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons. Ingesting or inhaling quantities of uranium - even depleted uranium - is dangerous: it depresses renal function and raises the risk of developing a range of cancers. "It's worth making sure everyone understands that just because the word uranium is in the title of depleted uranium munitions, they are not nuclear munitions, they are purely conventional munitions," Cleverly said. A spokesperson from Britain's defence ministry said: "The British Army has used depleted uranium in its armour piercing shells for decades."

☆ Column: The road to war: An ex-Reuters journalist recalls the chase for WMD in Iraq
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Louis Charbonneau | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

March 20 (Reuters) - Louis Charbonneau covered the UN weapons inspections prior to the Iraq war and later became UN bureau chief. The U.S. was threatening to use military force to rid Iraq of WMD, which the administration of President George W. Bush insisted Iraq was developing in violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions. Reuters colleagues Evelyn Leopold and Irwin Arieff quickly cobbled together a story on doubts about the Niger uranium intel based on what I dictated. The next morning, I reached out to UN sources for more information on the Niger uranium. The IAEA experts had concluded they weren’t useful for a nuclear weapons program.

☆ Explainer: Everything to know about nuclear fuel uranium
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Here is everything you need to know about uranium and its usage as a nuclear fuel. WHAT IS URANIUM USED FOR? The radioactive metal is the most widely used fuel for nuclear energy due to its abundance and the relative ease of splitting its atoms. It is also used in treating cancer, for naval propulsion, and in nuclear weapons. HOW MUCH URANIUM IS NEEDED FOR A NUCLEAR WEAPONThe amount of uranium that went missing contains enough of the U-235 isotope to build a first-generation nuclear bomb if enriched to over 90%, according to Dr. Edwin Lyman from the Union of Concerned Scientists.

☆ Exclusive: Tons of uranium missing from Libyan site, IAEA tells member states
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Francois Murphy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Summary IAEA inspectors visited site not controlled by govtInspection postponed since 2022 over security situationWatchdog found 10 barrels of natural uranium missingIAEA sees possible radiological risk, security concernsVIENNA, March 15 (Reuters) - U.N. nuclear watchdog inspectors have found that roughly 2.5 tons of natural uranium have gone missing from a Libyan site that is not under government control, the watchdog told member states in a statement on Wednesday seen by Reuters. IAEA inspectors "found that 10 drums containing approximately 2.5 tons of natural uranium in the form of UOC (uranium ore concentrate) previously declared by (Libya) ... as being stored at that location were not present at the location," the one-page statement said. "The loss of knowledge about the present location of nuclear material may present a radiological risk, as well as nuclear security concerns," it said, adding that reaching the site required "complex logistics". Since 2014, political control has been split between rival eastern and western factions, with the last major bout of conflict ending in 2020. Reporting by Francois Murphy; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel and Daniel WallisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Australia to receive nuclear-powered submarines under agreement with U.S., UK
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Emma Kinery | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Australia will receive conventionally-armed, nuclear-powered submarines under an agreement announced following a Monday meeting of the leaders of the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia. "The plan we announce today delivers on this commitment and reflects our longstanding leadership in, and respect for, the global nuclear non-proliferation regime." The submarines will be modeled after the United Kingdom's next-generation nuclear submarine design and include up-to-date U.S. technology. Known as "SSN-AUKUS" after the strategic partnership among the countries, they will be built and used by both the U.K. and Australia. Pending congressional approval, the U.S. will seek to sell Australia three Virginia class nuclear-powered submarines beginning in the early 2030s.

☆ Netanyahu rebuffs IAEA chief's remarks against possible attack on Iran
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

JERUSALEM, March 5 (Reuters) - Israel rebuffed as "unworthy" on Sunday comments by the U.N. nuclear watchdog chief that any Israeli or U.S. attack on Iran's nuclear facilities would be illegal. He was responding to a reporter's question about threats by Israel and the United States to attack Iran's nuclear facilities if they deem diplomacy meant to deny it the bomb to be at a dead end. "Rafael Grossi is a worthy person who made an unworthy remark," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his cabinet in televised remarks on Sunday. Is it permissible for Iran, which openly calls for our destruction, to organise the tools of slaughter for our destruction? The IAEA said on Saturday Grossi had received sweeping assurances from Iran that it will assist a long-stalled investigation into uranium particles found at undeclared sites and re-install removed monitoring equipment.

☆ Iran Promises to Increase Cooperation With IAEA Over Nuclear Work
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-04 | by ( Laurence Norman In Berlin | Laurence Norman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi, wearing tie, arrives for his meeting with head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Mohammad Eslam in Tehran Saturday. Iran made fresh promises to increase its cooperation with the United Nations atomic agency on Saturday, but International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi returned from Tehran with no breakthrough over a series of Western concerns about Iran’s nuclear activities. In a press conference on his return, Mr. Grossi said Iran had promised to allow the agency to reinstall cameras and other monitoring equipment at several important nuclear-related facilities. Iran removed the equipment last summer.

☆ Iran Promises to Increase Cooperation with IAEA Over Nuclear Work
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-04 | by ( Laurence Norman In Berlin | Laurence Norman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

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