Tag: Rafael Grossi

UN nuclear agency chief says he’s satisfied with Japan’s plans to release Fukushima wastewater

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FUTABA, Japan (AP) — The head of the U.N. atomic agency toured Japan’s tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant on Wednesday and said he is satisfied with still-contentious plans to release treated radioactive wastewater into the Pacific Ocean.

International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Mariano Grossi observed where the treated water will be sent through a pipeline to a coastal facility, where it will be highly diluted with seawater and receive a final test sampling. It will then be released 1 kilometer (1,000 yards) offshore through an undersea tunnel.

“I was satisfied with what I saw,” Grossi said after his tour of equipment at the plant for the planned discharge, which Japan hopes to begin this summer. “I don’t see any pending issues.”

South Korea’s military says the satellite North Korea failed to put into orbit in May wasn’t advanced enough to conduct military reconnaissance from space as it claimed.

The U.N. nuclear agency has given its endorsement to Japan’s planned release of treated radioactive wastewater into the sea from the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant, saying it meets international standards and its environmental and health impact would be negligible.

South Korea has adopted a new law that changes how people count their ages. The country’s previous age-counting method made people a year or two older than they really are.

Japan and South Korea have agreed to revive a currency swap agreement for times of crisis. The move is the latest sign of warming ties as the countries work to smooth over historical antagonisms.

The wastewater release still faces opposition in and outside Japan.

Earlier Wednesday, Grossi met with local mayors and fishing association leaders and stressed that the IAEA will be present throughout the water discharge, which is expected to last decades, to ensure safety and address residents’ concerns. He said he inaugurated a permanent IAEA office at the plant, showing its long-term commitment.

The water discharge is not “some strange plan that has been devised only to be applied here, and sold to you,” Grossi said at the meeting in Iwaki, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of the plant. He said the method is certified by the IAEA and is followed around the world.

The IAEA, in its final report on the Fukushima plan released Tuesday, concluded that the treated wastewater, which will still contain a small amount of radioactivity, will be safer than international standards and its environmental and health impact would be negligible.

Local fishing organizations have rejected the plan because they worry their reputation will be damaged even if their catch isn’t contaminated. It is also opposed by groups in South Korea, China and some Pacific Island nations due to safety concerns and political reasons.

Fukushima’s fisheries association adopted a resolution on June 30 reaffirming its rejection of the plan.

The fishery association chief, Tetsu Nozaki, urged government officials at Wednesday’s meeting “to remember that the treated water plan was pushed forward despite our opposition.”

Grossi is expected to also visit South Korea, New Zealand and the Cook Islands to ease concerns there. He said his intention is to explain what the IAEA, not Japan, is doing to ensure there is no problem.

In an effort to address concerns about fish and the marine environment, Grossi and Tomoaki Kobayakawa, president of the plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, signed an agreement on a joint project to determine whether they are impacted by tritium, the only radionuclide officials say cannot be removed from the wastewater by treatment.

In South Korea, officials said in a briefing Wednesday that it’s highly unlikely that the released water will have dangerous levels of contamination. They said South Korea plans to tightly screen seafood imported from Japan and that there is no immediate plan to lift the country’s import ban on seafood from the Fukushima region.

Park Ku-yeon, first vice minister of South Korea’s Office for Government Policy Coordination, said Seoul plans to comment on the IAEA findings when it issues the results of the country’s own investigation into the potential effects of the water release, which he said will come soon.

China doubled down on its objections to the release in a statement late Tuesday, saying the IAEA report failed to reflect all views and accusing Japan of treating the Pacific Ocean as a sewer.

“We once again urge the Japanese side to stop its ocean discharge plan, and earnestly dispose of the nuclear-contaminated water in a science-based, safe and transparent manner. If Japan insists on going ahead with the plan, it will have to bear all the consequences arising from this,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.

Grossi said Wednesday he is aware of the Chinese position and takes any concern seriously. “China is a very important partner of the IAEA and we are in close contact,” he said.

A massive earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, destroyed the Fukushima Daiichi plant’s cooling systems, causing three reactors to melt and contaminating their cooling water, which has leaked continuously. The water is collected, treated and stored in about 1,000 tanks, which will reach their capacity in early 2024.

The government and TEPCO, the plant operator, say the water must be removed to prevent any accidental leaks and make room for the plant’s decommissioning.

Japanese regulators finished their final safety inspection last week, and TEPCO is expected to receive a permit within days to release the water.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, after meeting with Grossi, said Japan will continue to provide “detailed explanations based on scientific evidence with a high degree of transparency both domestically and internationally.”

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Associated Press video journalist Haruka Nuga in Tokyo and reporter Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul, South Korea, contributed to this report.

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July 4, 2023
UN nuclear agency endorses Japan’s plan to release treated radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean

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TOKYO (AP) — The U.N. nuclear agency gave its endorsement on Tuesday to Japan’s planned release of treated radioactive wastewater into the sea from the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant, saying it meets international standards and its environmental and health impact would be negligible.

The plan is opposed by groups in South Korea, China and some Pacific Island nations because of safety concerns and political reasons. Local fishing organizations are worried that their reputation will be damaged even if their catch isn’t contaminated.

Rafael Mariano Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, submitted its final assessment of the plan to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Tuesday.

Hiroshima and Pearl Harbor, two symbols of World War II animosity between Japan and the United States, are now promoting peace and friendship through a sister park arrangement.

Carlos Ghosn says that the $1 billion lawsuit he recently filed against Nissan and others is just the beginning of his fight.

The governor of Japan’s southern prefecture of Okinawa has called for more diplomatic efforts toward peace on the 78th anniversary of one of World War II’s bloodiest battles.

Lebanese officials say auto tycoon Carlos Ghosn has filed a $1 billion lawsuit against Nissan and about a dozen individuals in Beirut over his imprisonment in Japan and what he says is misinformation spread against him.

The report is a “comprehensive, neutral, objective, scientifically sound evaluation,” Grossi said. “We are very confident about it.”

The report said IAEA recognizes the discharge “has raised societal, political and environmental concerns, associated with the radiological aspects.” However, it concluded that the water release as currently planned “will have a negligible radiological impact on people and the environment.”

Japan’s plan and the equipment for the discharge are “in conformity with the agreed international standards and its application,” Grossi said.

He said the dilution of treated but still slightly radioactive wastewater for gradual release into the sea is a proven method widely used in other countries, including China, South Korea, the United States and France, to dispose of water containing certain radionuclides from nuclear plants.

Much of the Fukushima wastewater contains cesium and other radionuclides, but it will be filtered further to bring it below international standards for all but tritium, which is inseparable from water. It then will be diluted by 100 times with seawater before it is released.

But Haruhiko Terasawa, head of the Miyagi prefectural fisheries cooperatives, said they will continue to oppose the release while concerns remain.

“The treated water is not a problem that ends after a single time or a year of release, but lasts as long as 30-40 years, so nobody can predict what might happen,” he told TV Asahi.

Japan has sought the IAEA’s support to gain credibility for the plan. Experts from the U.N. agency and 11 nations have made several trips to Japan since early 2022 to examine preparations by the government and the plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings.

Some scientists say the impact of long-term, low-dose exposure to radionuclides remains unknown and urge a delay in the release. Others say the discharge plan is safe but call for more transparency in sampling and monitoring.

Kishida, after meeting with Grossi, said Japan will continue to provide “detailed explanations based on scientific evidence with a high degree of transparency both domestically and internationally.”

A massive earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, destroyed the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant’s cooling systems, causing three reactors to melt and their cooling water to be contaminated and leak continuously. The water is collected, treated and stored in about 1,000 tanks at the plant which will reach their capacity in early 2024.

The government and TEPCO say the water must be removed to prevent any accidental leaks and make room for the damaged plant’s decommissioning.

Japanese regulators finished their final safety inspection of the equipment last Friday and TEPCO is expected to receive a permit in about a week to begin gradually discharging the water at a location 1 kilometer (1,000 yards) offshore through an undersea tunnel. The start date for the release, which is expected to take decades, is still undecided.

The IAEA will continue to monitor and assess the release, Grossi said.

During his four-day visit, Grossi will also visit the Fukushima plant and meet with TEPCO officials, local fishing groups, heads of nearby municipalities and other stakeholders.

“I believe in transparency, I believe in open dialogue and I believe in the validity of the exercise we are carrying out,” he said.

Grossi is also expected to visit South Korea, New Zealand and the Cook Islands after his visit to Japan to ease concerns there.

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July 4, 2023
Blackouts worsen in Ukraine; fighting rages on many fronts

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KYIV, Ukraine — Relentless Russian attacks on energy infrastructure prompted Ukrainian authorities on Friday to announce worsening blackouts around the country’s largest cities, with Kyiv’s mayor warning that the capital’s power grid is working in “emergency mode” with energy supplies down as much as 50% from pre-war levels.

Meanwhile, the Russian president sought to dispel criticism of a chaotic call-up of 300,000 reservists for service in Ukraine by ordering his defense minister to make sure they’re properly trained and equipped for battle.

In the Kyiv region, as winter looms, the latest damage to utilities would mean outages of four or more hours a day, according to Ukrenergo, the state operator of Ukraine’s high-voltage transmission lines.

But Gov. Oleksiy Kuleba warned “more severe and longer shutdowns will be applied in the coming days.”

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the city’s power grid was operating in “emergency mode” and added he hoped Ukrenergo would find ways to address the shortage “in two to three weeks.”

The former boxing world champion also said new air defense equipment has been deployed in the Ukrainian capital to help defend against Russian drone and missile attacks on energy facilities.

In the Kharkiv region, home to Ukraine’s second-largest city of the same name, Gov. Oleg Syniehubov said daily one-hour power outages would begin Monday.

Officials across the country have urged people to conserve by reducing electricity consumption during peak hours and avoiding the use of high-voltage appliances.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said last week that 30% of Ukraine’s power stations had been destroyed since Russia launched the first wave of targeted infrastructure strikes on Oct. 10.

In Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin told Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu that the thousands of reservists who were recently called up need the right training and equipment so “people feel confident when they need to go to combat.”

Shoigu told Putin that 82,000 reservists had been deployed to Ukraine, while 218,000 others were still being trained. He said there were no immediate plans to round up more, but Putin’s mobilization order left the door open for a future military call-up.

Putin’s effort to beef up the number of troops along the 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line followed recent setbacks, including a Russian withdrawal from the Kkarkiv region. The mobilization, however, fueled scores of protests in Russia and prompted hundreds of thousands of men to flee the country.

Activists and reports by Russian media and The Associated Press said many of the draftees were inexperienced, were told to procure basic items such as medical kits and flak jackets themselves, and did not receive training before they were sent to fight. Some were killed within days of being called up.

Shoigu acknowledged that “problems with supplies existed in the initial stages,” but told Putin those have now been solved.

Putin ordered Shoigu to propose ways to reform the ground troops and other parts of the military based on their performance in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Russian missile and artillery barrages pounded targets across Ukraine. Several towns across the Dnieper River from the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant were struck, the presidential office said. Shelling damaged dozens of residential buildings in Nikopol, and power was cut there and to thousands of families in neighboring towns.

A Russian S-300 air defense missile destroyed a three-story office building and damaged a new residential building nearby, said Mykolaiv regional governor Vitalii Kim. Russian forces have frequently used converted S-300 missiles to strike ground targets in Ukraine.

Moscow also pressed its ground advance on the cities of Bakhmut and Avdiikva after a string of setbacks in the east. The fighting had turned the entire Donetsk region into “a zone of active hostilities,” according to Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko.

“Civilians who remain in the region live in constant fear without heating and electricity,” Kyrylenko said in televised remarks. “Their enemy is not only Russian cannons but also the cold.”

A Russian takeover of Bakhmut, which has remained in Ukrainian hands throughout the war, would open the way for the Kremlin to push on to other Ukrainian strongholds in the heavily contested Donetsk region. A reinvigorated eastern offensive could also potentially stall or derail Ukraine’s push to recapture the southern city of Kherson, a gateway to Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

Last month, Putin also illegally annexed annexed the Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia regions. Much of the fighting since then has appeared geared toward consolidating Moscow’s control over that territory, which Putin has put under martial law.

Luhansk Gov. Serhiy Haidai reported Friday that Russian soldiers had retreated from some areas; Moscow had claimed Luhansk’s complete capture in July.

“The Russians practically destroyed some villages after they started to retreat,” Haidai said. “There are a lot of freshly mobilized Russians in the Luhansk region, but they are dying in droves.” His claim could not be independently verified.

In the Zaporizhzhia region, Kremlin-appointed officials urged residents not to switch to daylight savings time along with Kyiv and the rest of the country. Russia switched to permanent winter time in 2014.

“We live in the Russian Federation, and our city lives by Moscow time,” said Alexander Volga, the Russian-installed mayor of Enerhodar, where Europe’s largest nuclear power plant is located.

Meanwhile, inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency planned to visit two locations where Russia alleged, without citing evidence, that Ukraine was building radioactive “dirty bombs.” IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said inspectors are being dispatched after a written request from the Ukrainian government.

Moscow has repeatedly made the unfounded claim that Ukraine is preparing to detonate a device that spreads radioactive waste on its own territory while trying to blame Russia. Western officials have dismissed the claim as misinformation possibly designed as a pretext for Russia’s own military escalation.

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Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

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October 28, 2022
Ukraine nuclear plant reconnected to grid after line was cut

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The U.N. nuclear watchdog says an external power line to Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the biggest in Europe, has been repaired after shelling disconnected the facility from the grid and forced it to resort to emergency diesel generators

BERLIN — An external power line to Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant — the biggest in Europe — was repaired on Sunday after shelling disconnected the facility from the grid and forced it to resort to emergency diesel generators, the U.N. nuclear watchdog said.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said the 750-kilovolt line was reconnected to the plant on Sunday evening following repair work by Ukrainian engineers. That enabled the plant to start switching off the generators that had kicked in to provide it with power after the line — its last connection to the grid — was cut early Saturday.

IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi tweeted that the reconnection was “a temporary relief in a still-untenable situation.”

The plant has been held by Russian forces for months, but operated by Ukrainian employees. All six reactors at the site are shut down but they still require electricity for cooling and other safety functions.

Grossi has spent weeks pushing for the establishment of a “nuclear safety and security protection zone” around the plant. He says he will travel to Russia and then see Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in an effort to realize that plan.

Grossi condemned attacks “in areas that could affect the safety and security” of the plant, including in nearby Enerhodar and in the Ukrainian-held provincial capital of Zaporizhzhia.

“Almost every day now, there is shelling in the region where the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is located and where the plant workers and their families live,” he said. “The shelling must stop, immediately. It is already having an impact on the nuclear safety and security situation at the plant.”

Ukrainian operating staff told IAEA experts that a convoy of five trucks carrying “vital additional diesel fuel supplies” is currently in the city of Zaporizhzhia and plans to cross the front line to reach the plant on Monday, the agency said. The site currently has diesel reserves for about 10 days. Separately, a supply of diesel provided by the Russian state nuclear company Rosatom has arrived in Enerhodar, the IAEA added.

Zaporizhzhia is one of four regions in Ukraine that Russian President Vladimir Putin has annexed in violation of international laws.

Putin signed a decree Wednesday declaring that Russia was taking over the nuclear plant. Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry called it a criminal act and said it considered Putin’s decree “null and void.” Ukraine’s state nuclear operator, Energoatom, said it would continue to operate the plant.

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Follow the AP’s coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

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October 9, 2022
UN: Ukraine nuclear power plant loses external power link

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The U.N. nuclear watchdog says that Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the biggest in Europe, has lost its last remaining external power source as a result of renewed shelling and is now relying on emergency diesel generators

BERLIN — Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the biggest in Europe, has lost its last remaining external power source as a result of renewed shelling and is now relying on emergency diesel generators, the U.N. nuclear watchdog said Saturday.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said that the plant’s link to a 750-kilovolt line was cut at around 1 a.m. Saturday. It cited official information from Ukraine as well as reports from IAEA experts at the site, which is held by Russian forces.

All six reactors at the plant are shut down but they still require electricity for cooling and other safety functions. Plant engineers have begun work to repair the damaged power line and the plant’s generators — not all of which are currently being used — each have sufficient fuel for at least 10 days, the IAEA said.

“The resumption of shelling, hitting the plant’s sole source of external power, is tremendously irresponsible,” IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi said in a statement.

Grossi visited Kyiv on Thursday. He said he will soon travel to Russia, then make another trip to Ukraine, to further his effort to set up a “nuclear safety and security protection zone” around the plant, which he has advocated for weeks.

“This is an absolute and urgent imperative,” he said. The IAEA didn’t apportion blame for the shelling.

Zaporizhzhia is one of four regions that Russian President Vladimir Putin has annexed in violation of international laws. While the nuclear plant has been under Russian control for months, the city of the same name remains under Ukrainian control.

Putin signed a decree Wednesday declaring that Russia was taking over the plant. Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry called it a criminal act and said it considered Putin’s decree “null and void.” Ukraine’s state nuclear operator, Energoatom, said it would continue to operate the plant.

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Follow the AP’s coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

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October 8, 2022
Live Updates: Russia-Ukraine War

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KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian forces have retaken 400 square kilometers (155 square miles) of territory in the southern Kherson region, so far this month as they continue to push Russian troops back in the south and east, Ukraine’s southern military command says.

Natalia Humeniuk, spokesperson for the Ukrainian military’s Operational Command South, said in a briefing Thursday that the situation along the southern front was rapidly changing and remained complicated.

Ukraine has recaptured 29 settlements in the oblast since Oct. 1, Oleksii Hromov, deputy chief of the Main Operational Department of the Ukrainian army’s General Staff, told a separate briefing.

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KEY DEVELOPMENTS:

— EXPLAINER: Russia’s military woes mount amid Ukraine attacks

— Russian rockets slam into Ukrainian city near nuclear plant

— Experts: Russia finding new ways to spread propaganda videos

— EU agrees on price cap for Russian oil over Ukraine war

— Belarus opposition hopeful at Russian setbacks in Ukraine

— Ukraine links World Cup host bid to beating horrors of war

Follow all AP stories on the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine.

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BRUSSELS — The European Union on Thursday froze the assets of an additional 37 people and entities tied to Russia’s war in Ukraine, bringing the total of EU blacklist targets to 1,351.

The newly sanctioned people include officials involved in last week’s illegal Russian annexation of — and sham referenda in — the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.

The latest sanctions, published in the EU’s Official Journal, also widen trade bans against Russia and lay the ground for a price cap on Russian oil being prepared with other G-7 members. The new commercial curbs hit an estimated 7 billion euros ($6.9 billion) of EU imports of Russian goods including steel, plastics, textiles and non-gold jewelry.

The wider EU prohibition on exports to Russia covers such products as coal, electronics used in Russian weapons and aircraft components.

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COPENHAGEN, Denmark – Norway on Thursday said that Russian fishing vessels can only call at three Arctic ports ports, and that all Russian vessels arriving at these ports will be checked.

Russian fishing boats only will be allowed in three Arctic ports — Kirkenes, Tromsø and Båtsfjord.

“We now have information which indicates that there is a need to increase the control of Russian fishing vessels, Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt said.

“The recent serious developments with Russia’s unacceptable annexation of Ukraine, the attacks on gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea and increased drone activity, means that the government has further tightened preparedness.

“This will make it more difficult to use Russian fishing vessels for illegal activities, for example by circumventing export regulations, ”Justice Minister Emilie Enger Mehl added.

In April, the European Union, of which Norway is not a member, banned Russian vessels from entering EU ports. Norway followed suit with the exception of fishing boats, which led to criticism from the Norwegian opposition.

Authorities in Norway, a major oil and gas producer, have reported several drone sightings near offshore installations in the North Sea.

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PRAGUE — Czech social media users have shared satirical tweets claiming that the Czech Republic has annexed the Russian territory of Kaliningrad and renamed it Královec.

It is a satire on Russia’s illegal annexation of four Ukrainian territories where Kremlin-installed authorities held voter “referendums” that Ukraine and its allies regard as an illegitimate farce.

Even Slovak President Zuzana Caputova got in on the joke on Thursday, tweeting “I might consider a state visit. Or not.” Turning serious, she added: “Well done our #Czech friends for de-masking the absurdity of #Russia’s fictitious referendums in #Ukraine.”

An anonymous Twitter user in Poland first posted about the fake “annexation” of Kaliningrad. A Czech member of the European Parliament, Tomasz Zdechovsky, then posted about it. There has since been an explosion of jokes under the hashtags Kralovec and VisitKralovec.

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CANBERRA, Australia — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday it was “hard to say” whether the risk of nuclear war had increased with his military’s territorial gains, but he remains confident his Russian counterpart would not survive such as escalation in hostilities.

Zelenskyy was addressing the Lowy Institute international think tank in Sydney via video link after Ukraine’s military retook ground illegally annexed by Russia last week. He questioned whether Russian President Vladimir Putin had enough control over the Russian campaign to direct a tactical nuclear strike.

The Russians found it “hard to control everything that is happening in their country, just as they’re not controlling everything they have on the battlefield,” Zelenskyy said.

Putin “understands that after the use of nuclear weapons he would be unable any more to preserve, so to speak, his life,” Zelenskyy said, “and I’m confident of that.”

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WARSAW, Poland –- Poland is distributing potassium iodide tablets to regional firefighters’ stations in a pre-emptive measure in case of damage to Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is occupied by Russian troops.

Stored in some 1,500 stations nationwide, the potassium iodide pills would be distributed to Poles in case of real threat, the government said. Deputy interior and administration minister, Blazej Pobozy, has said radioactive contamination is “very unlikely.”

The Zaporizhzhia plant, some 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) from Poland’s eastern border, is Europe’s largest. It was damaged recently in the fighting with Russian forces.

In 1986, following the accident at Ukraine’s Chernobyl nuclear power plant many Poles took iodine solution to prevent absorbing radiation.

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WARSAW, Poland — Poland is raising its security emergency level for energy infrastructure located outside Poland’s borders.

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki signed the decision Thursday to raise security to the second out of four levels, through November. The decision means that security services need to be especially vigilant and ready to react to any potential terrorist threats.

Poland recently opened a new natural gas pipeline from Norway, the Baltic Pipe, that partly runs on the Baltic seabed. It is helping Poland cut its decades-long dependence on Russian gas.

Last week Russian’s Nord Stream pipelines suffered leaks in the Baltic Sea caused by explosions, widely believed to be the result of sabotage.

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KYIV, Ukraine — The U.S. deployed its international development chief to Ukraine on Thursday, the highest-ranking American official to visit the country since Russia illegally annexed the four regions.

The head of the U.S. Agency for International Development, Samantha Power, traveled to Kyiv and was holding meetings with government officials and residents. She said the U.S. would provide an additional $55 million to repair heating pipes and other equipment.

Among the sites she visited were a Kyiv neighborhood and school that had previously been hit by Russian missiles.

USAID said the United States has delivered $9.89 billion in aid to Ukraine since February.

A spending bill signed by President Biden last week promises another $12.3 billion in Ukraine-related aid — directed both at military and public services needs. Power said Washington plans to release the first $4.5 billion of that funding in the coming weeks.

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KYIV, Ukraine — The head of the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog is expected to visit Kyiv this week to discuss the situation at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which has been occupied by Russian troops since the early part of the war.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree Wednesday declaring that Russia was taking over the six-reactor plant, the largest in Europe.

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry called it a criminal act and said it considered Putin’s decree “null and void.” The state nuclear operator, Energoatom, said it would continue to operate the plant.

Rafael Grossi, the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, plans to talk with Ukrainian officials about the Russian move.

He will also discuss efforts to set up a secure protection zone around the facility, which has been damaged in the fighting and seen staff including its director abducted by Russian troops.

Grossi will travel to Moscow for talks with Russian officials after his stop in Kyiv.

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October 6, 2022
Ukraine nuclear workers recount abuse, threats from Russians

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ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine — Alone in his apartment in the Russian-occupied city of Enerhodar in southeastern Ukraine, nuclear plant security guard Serhiy Shvets looked out his kitchen window in late May and saw gunmen approaching on the street below. When his buzzer rang, he was sure he was about to die.

Shvets, a former soldier in Ukraine’s military who was loyal to Kyiv, knew the gunmen would either kill or abduct and torture him. He thought briefly about recording a farewell to his family, who had fled to safety abroad, but instead lit a cigarette and grabbed his gun.

Six Russian soldiers broke down his door and opened fire, which he returned. Wounded in the hand, thigh, ear, and stomach, Shvets began to lose consciousness. Before he did, he heard the commander of the group tell his men to cease fire and call an ambulance.

Shvets, who survived the shooting, is among workers from the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant recounting their fears of being abducted and tortured or killed by Russian forces occupying the facility and the city of Enerhodar. Ukrainian officials say the Russians have sought to intimidate the staff into keeping the plant running, through beatings and other abuse. but also to punish those who express support for Kyiv.

A GOOD LIFE BEFORE THE WAR

Life was good for employees of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant before the Russian invasion of Feb. 24. They were guaranteed a financially secure and stable life for their families.

And even though Ukraine still bears the psychological scars of the world’s worst atomic accident at Chernobyl in 1986, the Zaporizhzhia plant — Europe’s largest nuclear facility with its six reactors — provided jobs for about 11,000 people, making Enerhodar and its prewar population of 53,000 one of the wealthiest cities in the region.

But after Russia occupied the city early in the war, that once-comfortable life turned into nightmare.

The invaders overran the ZNPP, about 6 kilometers (nearly 4 miles) from Enerhodar, but kept the Ukrainian staff in place to run it. Both sides accused the other of shelling the plant that damaged power lines connecting it to the grid, raising international alarm for its safety. Ukrainian officials say the Russians used the plant as a shield from which to fire shells on nearby towns.

Reports of intimidation of the staff and abductions began trickling out over the summer. Rafael Mariano Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N.’s atomic watchdog, told The Associated Press about reports of violence between the Russians and the Ukrainian staff.

About 4,000 ZNPP workers fled. Those who stayed cited threats of kidnap and torture — underscored by the abduction Friday of plant director Ihor Murashov, who was seized and blindfolded by Russian forces on his way home from work.

He was freed Monday after being forced to make false statements on camera, according to Petro Kotin, head of Energoatom, Ukraine’s state nuclear company. Kotin told AP Murashov was released at the edge of Russian-controlled territory and walked about 15 kilometers (9 miles) to Ukrainian-held areas.

“I would say it was mental torture,” Kotin said of what Murashov suffered. “He had to say that all the shelling on the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant was made by Ukrainian forces and that he is a Ukrainian spy … in contact with Ukrainian special forces.”

Enerhodar’s exiled Mayor Dmytro Orlov, who spoke to Murashov after his release, said the plant official told him he had spent two days “in solitary confinement in the basement, with handcuffs and a bag on his head. His condition can hardly be called normal.”

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, described Murashov’s abduction as “yet another manifestation of absolutely uncovered Russian terror.”

‘TERRIBLE THINGS HAPPEN THERE’

More than 1,000 people, including plant workers, were abducted from Enohodar, although some have been released, estimated Orlov, who fled to Zaporizhzhia, the nearest city under Ukrainian control, after refusing to cooperate with the Russians. Kotin estimated that 100-200 remain abducted.

Orlov said the first abduction was March 19, when Russians seized his deputy, Ivan Samoidiuk, whose whereabouts remains unknown. The abductions then accelerated, he said.

“Mostly, they took people with a pro-Ukrainian position, who were actively involved in the resistance movement,” he said.

Orlov alleged they were tortured at various locations in Enerhodar, including at the city’s police station, in basements elsewhere and even in the ZNPP itself.

“Terrible things happen there,” he said. “People who managed to come out say there was torture with electric currents, beatings, rape, shootings. … Some people didn’t survive.”

Similar sites were seen by AP journalists in parts of the Kharkiv region abandoned by Russian troops after a Ukrainian counteroffensive. In the city of Izium, an AP investigation uncovered 10 separate torture sites.

Plant worker Andriy Honcharuk died in a hospital July 3 shortly after the Russians released him, beaten and unconscious, for refusing to follow their orders at the facility, Orlov said.

Oleksii, a worker who said he was responsible for controlling the plant’s turbines and reactor compartment, fled Enerhodar in June when he learned Russian troops were looking for him. The 39-year-old asked not to be identified by his full name for fear of reprisal.

“It was psychologically difficult,” Oleksii told the AP in Kyiv. “You go to the station and see the occupiers there. You come to your workplace already depressed.”

Many plant employees “visited the basements” and were tortured there, he said.

“Graves appeared in the forest that surrounds the city. That is, everyone understands that something horrible is happening,” he said. “They abduct people for their pro-Ukrainian position, or if they find any Telegram groups on their phone. This is enough for them to take a person away.”

Another employee who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of his safety said he was unafraid of working at the plant amid shelling but decided to flee in September after colleagues were seized. He said Russians visited his home twice while he was away, and the possibility of torture was too much for him.

The plant’s last reactor was shut down in September to guard against a disaster from constant shelling that cut reliable external power supplies needed for cooling and other safety systems. Kotin said the company could restart two of the reactors in a matter of days to protect safety installations as winter approaches and temperatures drop.

But the power plant sits in one of four regions that Russia has moved to annex, making its future uncertain.

Kotin on Tuesday renewed his call for a “demilitarized zone” around the plant, where two IAEA experts are based.

‘FREEDOM OR DEATH’

For Serhiy Shvets, whose apartment was raided May 23, it was only a matter of time before the Russians came for him during the occupation of Enerhodar, he said. He had signed up to serve in Ukraine’s territorial defense forces shortly after the invasion and had sent his wife and other relatives abroad for safety.

He said the Russian forces who shot him called the ambulance “so I could die in the hospital.”

Doctors initially gave him a 5% chance of survival after he lost nearly two-thirds of his blood. But following several operations, he was well enough to leave Enerhodar in July and is living in Zaporizhzhia.

Shvets, whose right hand is in a metal brace, quietly exhaled from pain as he moved it and said the only thing he regrets now is that he is too disabled to fight.

“I’m a descendant from Zaporozhian Cossacks,” he said, referring to his ancestors who lived on the territory of Ukraine from the 15th to 18th centuries and defended it from invaders. “There was no such thing as surrender for them — just freedom or death.”

He added: “Why would I want such a life if I don’t have my freedom?”

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Yuras Karmanau in Tallinn, Estonia, contributed.

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Follow AP’s coverate of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

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October 4, 2022