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Power severed to Chernobyl, threatening irradiated fuel pools
Fighting around the defunct Chernobyl nuclear power facility has severed a power line used to supply power to the two on-site irradiated fuel pools that house 20,000 capsules of radioactive waste. This waste is not just used and highly-radioactive fuel, but also ruined and radioactive material from the exploded reactor that melted down in 1986.…
Read MoreChernobyl: From radioactive exclusion zone to war zone
Radiation and wildlife expert, Timothy Mousseau, Professor of Biological Sciences, University of South Carolina, has studied radiation’s impact in wild areas for decades. He enumerates what can go wrong when a site that “is among the most radioactively contaminated regions on the planet” becomes a war zone. In his article for The Conversation, he states…
Read MoreOn air coverage on Ukraine nuclear
Beyond Nuclear had been calling out the dangers of war around nuclear power plants even before the Russian invasion. Now, it has become a tragic reality. Beyond Nuclear staff have made a number of television appearances. First, the concerns centered only around Chernobyl. Then came the attack on Zaporizhzhia You can watch Kevin Kamps explain…
Read MoreClose call at Zaporizhzhia
The fire at the six-reactor Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant on March 4 prompted chilling warnings from Ukraine’s president and foreign minister of a nuclear disaster “10 times worse than Chornobyl” and “the end of Europe”. Ukraine’s nuclear regulator reports that Russian forces are in control of the plant but no radiation has been released. The…
Read MoreUpdate from Ukraine’s nuclear regulator
This is the verbatim transcript from the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine as of March 4, 2022. On 4 March 2022, the military forces of the Russian Federation committed shelling the Zaporizhzhia NPP site, as a result of which a fire broke out on the ZNPP site. The fire was extinguished by the Ukrainian…
Read MoreGermany’s green goals on track
Despite claims that dependance on Russian gas derails Germany’s energy revolution, the country will instead ramp up renewables While the pro-nuclear lobby crows that Germany must now extend the life of its remaining nuclear power plants and will need to expand its use of coal as access to Russian gas gets cut off, the country…
Read MoreNuclear industry begs White House to keep Russia uranium coming
Major energy companies such as BP, Shell and Exxon Mobile, as well as some of the world’s largest corporations including Apple, Disney, Adidas, Warner Brothers and General Motors are in the process of cutting their business ties with Russia. The move comes in protest at Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But the US nuclear power industry…
Read MoreEnergoatom calls on IAEA for help
Energoatom, the Ukrainian nuclear utility, has asked the International Atomic Energy Agency to intervene to help safeguard the country’s 15 nuclear reactors as Russian forces advance dangerously close to the sites. “We call on the IAEA to intervene to prevent occupying forces in the 30 kilometre zone around our nuclear power plants,” the company’s CEO, Petro…
Read MoreIAEA must ensure safety
International agency should ensure safe operation at Ukraine’s nuclear facilities now in a war zone Beyond Nuclear joined nine other international civil society groups in signing a letter that urges the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to be transparent about the status of Ukraine’s 15 commercial reactors as well as the Chernobyl nuclear site. Although…
Read MoreA plea from Nobel Peace Prize winners
A joint statement from Dmitry Muratov, journalist (2021 Nobel Peace Prize) and Beatrice Fihn on behalf of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (2017 Nobel Peace Prize) Right now, we see nuclear tensions heightening to the most threatening levels seen in modern times. Vladimir Putin has made threats to launch nuclear attacks and raised the…
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