TheNewsGuru

Tag: IAEA

  • IAEA demands clarity on Iran’s Uranium stockpile

    IAEA demands clarity on Iran’s Uranium stockpile

    The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, is demanding clarity from Iran on the whereabouts of its nuclear material.

    During an emergency meeting of the IAEA board of governors in Vienna on Monday, convened in response to recent U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, Grossi highlighted Tehran’s obligations under international agreements.

    He stated that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had previously announced protective measures for nuclear material and equipment ahead of the Israeli and U.S. attacks.

    However, Grossi emphasized that any movement of nuclear materials must be reported to the IAEA as required by the binding inspection agreement between the agency and Iran.

    The IAEA report revealed that Iran possesses over 400 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60 percent purity, nearing weapons-grade level.

    Diplomats warn that if this material were further enriched to 90 per cent, it could be used to produce multiple nuclear weapons.

    Although Tehran maintains it had no intention of building nuclear weapons, growing international concern suggests otherwise.

    Grossi stressed the need for IAEA inspectors to verify the current status of Iran’s 60 per cent enriched uranium, previously stored in Isfahan, now a target of recent Israeli and U.S. bombings.

    This uranium had originally been produced at the Natanz and Fordow enrichment facilities, both of which were reportedly heavily damaged.

    Grossi noted that Fordow’s underground plant, in particular, was likely severely impacted by powerful U.S. bombs.

  • Powerful explosions shake Ukraine’s nuclear plant area

    Powerful explosions shake Ukraine’s nuclear plant area

    The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says powerful explosions shook the area of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), “abruptly ending a period of relative calm” at the facility.

    IAEA’s Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi, in a statement on Sunday, said those blasts which occurred on Saturday evening and early hours of Sunday further underlined “the urgent need for measures to help prevent a nuclear accident there”.

    “As I have said many times before, you’re playing with fire!”.

    In what appeared to be renewed shelling near and at the site of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, IAEA experts on the ground reported that more than a dozen blasts were heard within a short period of time in the morning local time.

    The IAEA team were also able to see some of the explosions from their windows.

    “The news from our team yesterday and this morning is extremely disturbing,” Grossi said.

    Citing information provided by plant management, the IAEA team said there had been damage to some buildings, systems, and equipment at the site, but noncritical for nuclear safety and security.

    “Explosions occurred at the site of this major nuclear power plant, which is completely unacceptable,”he added. “Whoever is behind this, it must stop immediately”.

    According to news reports, Russian and Ukrainian nuclear energy authorities each blamed the other side’s forces for the strikes – triggering fears of a serious nuclear accident.

    So far, there have been no reports of any radiation leaks at the Russian-occupied plant.

    The IAEA experts said that there were no reported casualties, and they are in close contact with site management.

    Meanwhile as they continue to assess and relay updates on the situation, the IAEA chief renewed his urgent appeal that both sides of the conflict agree to implement a nuclear safety and security zone around the ZNPP as soon as possible.

    In recent months, he has been engaging in intense consultations with Ukraine and Russia on establishing a zone – but, so far, no agreement has been reached.

    “I’m not giving up until this zone has become a reality,” Grossi said. “As the ongoing apparent shelling demonstrates, it is needed more than ever”.

    Even though there was no direct impact on key nuclear safety and security systems at the plant, the senior UN official said, “the shelling came dangerously close to them”.

    “We are talking metres, not kilometres. Whoever is shelling at the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant, is taking huge risks and gambling with many people’s lives”.

    The IAEA team of experts plan to conduct an assessment of the shelling impact on the site on Monday.

  • Disaster looms over Europe unless Russia withdraws forces now – Ukraine warns

    Disaster looms over Europe unless Russia withdraws forces now – Ukraine warns

    Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Dmytro Kuleba, has insisted that Russia must immediately withdraw forces from Chornobyl and Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs) to avert a disaster in Europe.

    Kuleba gave the warning today after meeting with the Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi,
    in Turkey to discuss ways of ensuring safety and security of nuclear facilities in Ukraine amid Russia’s invasion.

    The Minister tweeted: “The only electrical grid supplying the Chornobyl NPP and all its nuclear facilities occupied by Russian army is damaged. CNPP lost all electric supply. I call on the international community to urgently demand Russia to cease fire and allow repair units to restore power supply.

    “Reserve diesel generators have a 48-hour capacity to power the Chornobyl NPP. After that, cooling systems of the storage facility for spent nuclear fuel will stop, making radiation leaks imminent. Putin’s barbaric war puts entire Europe in danger. He must stop it immediately!”

    Grossi also expressed deep concern about this development as the “secure off-site power supply from the grid for all nuclear sites” was one of seven indispensable pillars of nuclear safety and security that he outlined at a meeting of the IAEA’s Board of Governors on 2nd March, convened to address the safety, security and safeguards implications of the situation in Ukraine.

    “In the case of the Chornobyl NPP, the IAEA agreed with the Ukrainian regulator that its disconnection from the grid would not have a critical impact on essential safety functions at the site, where various radioactive waste management facilities are located, ” he said.

    The Director-General explained that the volume of cooling water in the pool is sufficient to maintain effective heat removal from the spent fuel without a supply of electricity, and that the site also has reserve emergency power supplies with diesel generators and batteries.

    Grossi however, added: “From day to day, we are seeing a worsening situation at the Chornobyl NPP, especially for radiation safety, and for the staff managing the facility under extremely difficult and challenging circumstances.

    “I repeat my urgent appeal to the forces in effective control of the plant to respect internal radiation protection procedures, to facilitate the safe rotation of staff and to take other important steps to ensure safety.”

    In another development, he said the IAEA in recent days had lost remote data transmission from its safeguards systems installed to monitor nuclear material at the Chornobyl NPP and another Ukrainian nuclear power plant now controlled by Russian forces, the Zaporizhzhya NPP.

    Grossi said he was concerned about the sudden interruption of such data flows to the IAEA’s Vienna headquarters from the two sites, where large amounts of nuclear material are present in the form of spent or fresh nuclear fuel and other types of nuclear material.

    The reason for the disruption in the transmission of safeguards data was not immediately clear, but the IAEA says it continues to receive such data from other nuclear facilities in Ukraine, including the three other nuclear power plants.

    “The remote transmission of data from IAEA safeguards equipment located at nuclear sites around the world is an important component of our safeguards implementation, in Ukraine and globally,” he noted.

    Regarding the status of Ukraine’s operational nuclear power plants, the regulator said eight of the country’s 15 reactors remained operating, including two at the Zaporizhzhya NPP. Radiation levels at the sites were normal, it said.

    The Zaporizhzhya NPP site has four high voltage (750 kV) offsite power lines plus an additional one on standby. The operator informed the IAEA that two have been damaged and therefore there were now two power lines, plus the one on standby, available to the plant.

    The operator also said that the NPP off-site power needs could be provided with one power line available. Furthermore, diesel generators are ready and functional to provide back-up power.

     

  • Ukraine’s largest nuclear plant now under our control – Russia

    Ukraine’s largest nuclear plant now under our control – Russia

    Russia says it has now taken control of Ukraine’s largest nuclear plant, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi has revealed.

    Grossi, citing information from Moscow, said Russian forces now have control of Ukraine’s largest nuclear power plant.

    The IAEA director general on Wednesday said Russian diplomats in Vienna had informed him of the development.

    According to the Russian embassy’s letter to the IAEA, staff at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant continue to ensure safe operation. Radiation levels are said to be normal.

    In Ukraine, which was invaded by Russia, 15 nuclear reactors are in operation across four power plants.

    Grossi has already warned of the risk of a serious nuclear accident as fighting continues across the country.

    The IAEA board of governors is scheduled to meet on Wednesday to discuss the situation.

    Earlier Kiev had reported to the IAEA that it remained in contact with all nuclear plants in the country and that they were operating normally.

    According to Anton Herashchenko, advisor to the Ukrainian Interior Ministry, Russian forces are also seeking to capture the South Ukraine nuclear power plant, about 350 kilometres west of Zaporizhzhia. Several helicopters have been seen heading in that direction.

    Russian units captured the closed nuclear power plant in Chernobyl last week. There was a slight increase in radiation readings at the site of the 1986 nuclear disaster after military vehicles stirred up radioactive soil there.

  • Atomic Energy Agency launches cancer care initiative in Africa

    Atomic Energy Agency launches cancer care initiative in Africa

    International Atomic Energy Agency on Friday, World Cancer Day, launched a new initiative. It is aimed at providing cancer care for people living in low and middle-income countries in Africa.

    The initiative, dubbed “Rays of Hope”, was officially launched at an event held during the ongoing Summit at AU Headquarters in Addis Ababa.

    Moussa Faki Mahamat, chairperson of the AU Commission; Felix Tshisekedi, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and current chairperson of the African Union; and Macky Sall, President of Senegal and incoming AU chair, co-hosted the launch event.

    Director-General of IAEA, Rafael Mariano Grossi, said “Rays of Hope” will tackle the burden of cancer in Africa by expanding radiotherapy, where radiation treatment is absent.

    “I would like to thank the International Atomic Energy Agency for its commitment to our fight against cancer across the continent through strengthening member states’ capacities in radiotherapy to ensure proper care,’’ Tshisekedi, chairperson of the 55-member pan-African bloc said.

    Speaking on the occasion, Senegalese President, Sall, said cancer causes 700,000 deaths every year in Africa. This is a continent where over 40 per cent of countries do not have radiotherapy facilities.

  • Atomic energy experts assess Nigeria’s nuclear framework

    Atomic energy experts assess Nigeria’s nuclear framework

    A team of atomic energy experts has said Nigeria has a committed regulatory body that works for the continuous improvement of nuclear and radiation safety, but noted challenges related to its independence in implementing regulatory decisions and activities.

    The Integrated Regulatory Review Service (IRRS) team from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) today concluded a 10-day mission in which the team assessed the regulatory framework for nuclear and radiation safety in Nigeria.

    “The IRRS team recognizes the strong commitment of Nigeria to improving nuclear and radiation safety. The team was extended full cooperation by all parties in this review,” said team leader Lamberto Matteocci, Technical Coordinator for Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection at the Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA)”.

    “We believe the outcome of this mission will be of great help to the country in order to enhance its national regulatory framework,” the team lead further stated.

    TheNewsGuru reports the Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NNRA) is the body responsible for regulatory oversight in the country.

    Nigeria makes extensive use of radiation sources in medical and industrial applications as well as in science and research. The country also has a research reactor used for the analysis of materials and training.

    The team of experts made recommendations and suggestions to the Government and the NNRA to help them further enhance the country’s regulatory framework in line with IAEA safety standards.

    “The Nigerian Government will work with the IAEA to develop a work-plan for the implementation of the mission’s recommendations and suggestions,” said NNRA Director General Lawrence Dim.

    According to the team, the final mission report will be provided to Nigeria in about three months, and the authorities in Nigeria have told the IAEA that they plan to make the report public.

    “Nigeria is always ready to cooperate with the Agency in the area of nuclear and radiation safety, as well as in other areas. We are committed to using the IAEA safety standards and international best practices to improve our policy, and legal, technical and regulatory infrastructure,” he further stated.

    The 12-member IRRS team comprised senior experts from France, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Latvia, Morocco, Pakistan, Slovenia, Turkey, and Zimbabwe, as well as three IAEA staff members.