IAEA convoy hit by Russian drone

December 11, 2024, 12:00PMNuclear News
The IAEA vehicle struck by a drone within the Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine. (Image: X/@ZelenskyyUa)

A drone targeted and damaged an official vehicle of the International Atomic Energy Agency on December 10 as it traveled toward the front line in eastern Ukraine during a rotation of IAEA teams at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP). In a video message, IAEA director general Rafael Mariano Grossi condemned the strike as an “unacceptable” attack on IAEA staff working to prevent a nuclear accident during a military conflict.

Argonne investigates industrial SMR applications for postwar Ukraine

November 26, 2024, 3:02PMNuclear News
Argonne director Paul Kearns, undersecretary of state for arms control and international security Bonnie Jenkins, EPRI chief nuclear strategy officer Neil Wilmshurst, and DOE acting assistant secretary for nuclear energy Michael Goff spoke at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. (Photo: PNNL/Nazar Kholod)

Argonne National Laboratory will play a leading role in planning and rebuilding a nuclear-generated clean energy infrastructure for postwar Ukraine as part of the lab’s focus on developing small modular reactor applications to help countries meet energy security goals. The latest plans, described in a November 19 article, were announced on November 16 at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Six Ukrainian reactors reduce power following military campaign

November 18, 2024, 7:05AMNuclear News
Photo: IAEA

The International Atomic Energy Agency has reported that Ukraine’s operating nuclear power plants reduced electricity production yesterday morning as a precautionary measure following widespread military activities across the country that reportedly targeted its energy infrastructure.

IAEA warning issued after assassination of Zaporizhzhia worker

October 10, 2024, 7:03AMNuclear News

A man killed in a car bomb last week in Enerhodar, Ukraine, may have been targeted because of his ties to Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

The International Atomic Energy Agency received information from both the Russian Federation and Ukraine about the suspected assassination, which occurred in the town where most of the plant staff live, said IAEA director general Rafael Mariano Grossi.

Chernobyl-area land deemed safe for new agriculture

September 24, 2024, 10:44AMANS Nuclear Cafe

Kasparov

More than 80 percent of the territory that has been surveyed around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant “can be returned to agricultural production,” said Valery Kashparov, director of the Ukrainian Institute of Agricultural Radiology (UIAR) of the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine.

Kashparov’s team of researchers reported in a recent article in New Scientist the results of its radiation surveys of areas around the site of the 1986 nuclear power plant accident. The group concluded that radiation measurements on much of the land are now below levels regarded as unsafe by Ukrainian regulators.

Decades of research: Kashparov, who has been with the UIAR since 1998, has spent the past 37 years conducting research related to Chernobyl, focusing on the physical-chemical and nuclear-physical properties of radioactive fallout in the area.

IAEA expanding aid to protect Ukraine nuclear infrastructure

September 4, 2024, 3:02PMNuclear News

The military conflict with Russia that began in February 2022 has left Ukraine with “dangerous instability” of its national grid, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency’s director general Rafael Mariano Grossi.

Following a meeting in Kyiv with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy on September 3, Grossi promised to take a more proactive stance in protecting the country’s energy infrastructure—especially where nuclear safety is vulnerable. During recent months there have been numerous missile and drone attacks, with some directly causing the disconnection of several nuclear power plants.

Fire reported at Zaporizhzhia as Ukrainian troops advance toward Russia’s Kursk plant

August 12, 2024, 3:22PMNuclear News
Screenshot from a video released by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy shows a fire that broke out at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant on August 11, 2024.

Thick, black smoke pouring from one of the cooling towers at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant over the weekend raised alarm about safety at the facility as the military conflict with Russia continues.

On-site staff from the International Atomic Energy Agency witnessed the smoke and reported hearing multiple explosions at Zaporizhzhia, which is the largest nuclear plant in Europe and one of the largest worldwide.

IAEA: Cooling pond water levels decreasing at Ukraine nuclear plant

August 5, 2024, 9:30AMNuclear News

The water level in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant cooling pond continues to decrease, creating a serious safety threat.

“If this trend continues, ZNPP staff confirmed that it will soon become challenging to pump water from the pond. Maintaining the level of the pond is made more difficult by the hot summer weather,” said Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, in an update issued August 2.

Power outages, water shortages impact Ukraine plant

July 23, 2024, 7:00AMNuclear News

Security watchdogs with the International Atomic Energy Association are reporting continuing issues at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant due to the military invasion from Russia.

IAEA director general Rafael Mariano Grossi said in his weekly briefing on Ukraine that Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant staff experienced another power outage in the nearby city of Enerhodar—where most of the workers live—and a shortage of tap water that has also affected the plant.

Military action destroys radiation monitor at Ukraine plant

July 3, 2024, 12:00PMNuclear News
Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, prewar. (Photo: Energoatom)

An external radiation monitoring station was taken out by shelling and fire near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine the last week of June.

This brings the total to four of the plant’s 14 radiation monitoring sites that are out of commission, further reducing the effectiveness of its off-site capability to detect and measure any radioactive release during an emergency, said IAEA director general Rafael Mariano Grossi.

IAEA’s Grossi talks with insurance companies’ executives

June 17, 2024, 3:03PMNuclear News
Rafael Mariano Grossi addresses the Nuclear Pools' Forum in Zurich. (Photo: D. Candano Laris/IAEA)

International Atomic Energy Agency director general Rafael Mariano Grossi was in Switzerland last week to talk with insurance executives at the Nuclear Pools’ Forum about the potential of nuclear power.

Words from Westinghouse: The nuclear supply chain impacts and challenges

June 7, 2024, 3:04PMNuclear NewsGuest Contributor
A cut-away view of Westinghouse’s AP300 reactor. (Image: Westinghouse)

Power generation from nuclear fission as a clean and stable source of electricity has secured the interest of policymakers and industry leaders around the globe. Last fall, the United States spearheaded a pledge at COP28 to get countries to agree to triple nuclear capacity worldwide, and recently the members of the Group of 7 (G7) nations that currently use nuclear power have reaffirmed their pledges to invest in that power source to cut carbon emissions.

As of this writing, U.S. policymakers are trying to make good on that promise by passing legislation to support nuclear power, funding the domestic fuel supply chain, and working to pass the ADVANCE Act. On top of the support from Washington, D.C., power-hungry industries like data centers and chemical engineering are looking to secure stable, carbon-free power directly from power plants.

The future has more in store for nuclear

June 6, 2024, 7:04AMNuclear NewsKen Petersen

Ken Petersen
president@ans.org

Big news as I write this, my last column as ANS president: Legislation has been passed that will ban the importation of uranium from Russia (though waivers can be used in certain circumstances to continue imports through 2027). This ban has been discussed since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. I am sure all U.S. utilities have followed their risk-management policies.

With two years to plan, appropriate-use waivers, and access to American Assured Fuel Supply, there should not be any disruption to domestic reactor operations. The ban will force the United States and our Western allies to be independent and stronger. Congress has helped by providing $2.72 billion to support new domestic enrichment capacity. The challenge now is for the Department of Energy to turn this into actual new capacity as quickly as possible.

Ukrainian grad students participate in DOE program

June 4, 2024, 9:30AMANS Nuclear Cafe
A screenshot from a DOE video showing the eight Ukrainian students from the department’s internship program at Argonne National Laboratory, along with one of their tour guides (second from left). (Image: DOE)

Eight graduate students from Ukrainian universities have completed a two-year Department of Energy internship program that included a visit to Argonne National Laboratory.

G7 pledges support for nuclear at Italy meeting

May 8, 2024, 3:00PMNuclear News

The Group of Seven (G7) recommitted its support for nuclear energy in the countries that opt to use it at a Ministerial Meeting on Climate in Italy last month.

In a statement following the April meeting, the group committed to support multilateral efforts to strengthen the resilience of nuclear supply chains, referencing the goal set by 25 countries during last year’s COP28 climate conference in Dubai to triple global nuclear generating capacity by 2050.

IAEA calls for action following drone attacks at Ukraine nuclear plant

April 17, 2024, 12:00PMNuclear News

A recent drone attack at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant prompted an emergency meeting by the International Atomic Energy Agency Board of Governors, during which the agency again called for the immediate removal of Russian military and personnel from the site.