Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant
Kyiv/Vienna/Washington/Moscow: The visiting President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, discussed Chornobyl with Russian President Vladimir Putin today and claimed Ukraine was ready to blow up the “the largest nuclear power plants”.
“We are witnessing what is going on in Chernobyl, you asked me to supply electricity ……but they do not need it, do you see? They just do not need it. They do not care about what is happening there, and we used force to supply electricity to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, as promised,” Lukashenko told Putin who thanked him and said he was aware of that.
Kremlin quoted Lukashenko telling Putin: “These are their goals. But people are gradually beginning to understand what is what and who is right. Trust me, had we not done this 24 hours in advance, we would have drained this cup to the dregs with enormous losses several days later…They were going to strike not only at Donbass but had also prepared their positions for a strike against Belarus. And today – as I said yesterday – these foreign mercenaries are walking along the Belarus border to the Chornobyl plant. There are three points here. They want to cut off the routes of moving Russian troops and stab them in the back, as I said. This is the first point. Secondly, they want to attack the positions of the troops that remained in Belarus after their joint exercises with Russia. And they still hope to draw us directly into this slaughter to make us leave the western section unprotected. They are not that simple. We still have to figure out what they want to do in Chornobyl.”
Lukashenko added, “So, we have no need to justify ourselves before anyone”, to which Putin replied, “ No one is justifying themselves”.
Meanwhile, Ukraine informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that it had lost all communications with the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), the day after the Russian-controlled site lost all external power supplies.
Also read: Nuclear plant under siege: Situation in Chornobyl remains dangerous
The IAEA though, assured that the disconnection from the grid will not have a critical impact on essential safety functions at the site, where various radioactive waste management facilities are located, as the volume of cooling water in the spent fuel facility is sufficient to maintain heat removal without a supply of electricity.
IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi further said that the Agency was aware of reports that power has now been restored to the site and is looking for confirmation.
Earlier in the day, on March 10, 2022, the Ukraine regulatory authority had told the IAEA that emergency diesel generators were providing electricity to the Chornobyl NPP. The subsequent loss of communication meant that the regulator could no longer provide updated information about the site to the IAEA.
According to the information received before the loss of communication, both of the site’s power lines had been damaged, in effect disconnecting it from the grid, Ukraine’s regulatory authority said. To ensure continued power, these lines would either need to be repaired or the generators holding fuel for two days would require additional diesel deliveries. The diesel generators were powering systems important for safety, including those for spent nuclear fuel and water control and chemical water treatment, the regulatory authority said, adding that the operator was not able to maintain some functions such as radiation monitoring, ventilation systems, and normal lighting.
Grossi expressed alarm about the deteriorating and exhausting conditions for staff at the Chornobyl NPP, who have not been able to rotate since the day before Russian forces took control on February 24, 2022. He said this was also compromising a vital safety pillar, which states that “operating staff must be able to fulfil their safety and security duties and have the capacity to make decisions free of undue pressure”. Further adding to the stressful situation is the total loss of communication. The site had earlier been able to communicate with the regulator by email.
In the meantime, in an urgent message today, the Parliament of Ukraine stated that today, at 2:30 pm (local time), the Russian planes left the Dubrovytsia airfield in Belarus, flew into Ukrainian airspace, turned around and hit the Kopani town in Belarus. “The 9th detachment of the Ukrainian Border Guard is observing how the enemy is trying to occupy the town! Ukraine sees this as a provocation to involve Belarus in the war against Ukraine,” it stated.
The American President, Joe Biden, today spoke with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine to underscore his support for the Ukrainian people and highlighted how the United States was continuing to surge security, humanitarian, and economic assistance to Ukraine. He also updated President Zelenskyy on the actions the United States was taking today in coordination with the G7 and the EU to further raise the costs on Russia.
The Leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) resolved to isolate Russia further from our economies and the international financial system. “First, we will endeavour, consistent with our national processes, to take action that will deny Russia Most-Favoured-Nation status relating to key products. This will revoke important benefits of Russia’s membership of the World Trade Organization and ensure that the products of Russian companies no longer receive Most-Favoured-Nation treatment in our economies,” a G7 joint-statement said today. The G7 members further informed that they were working collectively to prevent Russia from obtaining financing from the leading multilateral financial institutions, including the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. “Russia cannot grossly violate international law and expect to benefit from being part of the international economic order,” they stated. They also committed to continuing their campaign of pressure against Russian elites, proxies and oligarchs close to the Russian President Vladimir Putin and other architects of the war as well as their families and their enablers.
Among other measures, the G7 also resolved to ensure that Russian entities directly or indirectly supporting the war should not have access to new debt and equity investments and other forms of international capital. “Our citizens are united in the view that their savings and investments should not fund the companies that underpin Russia’s economy and war machine. We will continue working together to develop and implement measures that will further limit Russia’s ability to raise money internationally,” the joint statement stated.
Putin, who discussed with his Government a package of measures to minimise the consequences of sanctions for the Russian economy in Moscow today, told Lukashenko that the erstwhile Soviet Union always lived in conditions of sanctions but developed and achieved enormous success. “I said yesterday: even after 1990, the sanctions imposed on the USSR were retained and then extended to the new, recent times. These are CoCom lists, restrictions on high technology. This is how it was done. Now a massive blow is being dealt at the economy. But practice over the past few years shows that wherever the West imposed restrictions on us, we acquired new competencies and restored our old skills at new technological levels. And all this is working. We have of course become stronger in this respect… This is indeed a time of opportunity when we must strengthen our technological and economic sovereignty,” Putin said.
He further added that the negotiations were now being held on almost a daily basis. “There are certain positive shifts there, as our negotiators have reported to me. I will tell you about all this in greater detail,” he told the President of Belarus.
Lukashenko told Putin: “I have told you over the phone more than once: the Russian Federation, and even more so Belarus, is always under sanctions, which have become more extensive today. However, we are already used to this, pardon my language, beastly Western behaviour. Why beastly? Because it is illegitimate, as they are fond of saying, and runs counter to international agreements and treaties, which they and we have joined, in part.”
– global bihari bureau
