But what is US nuclear technology doing in Zaporizhzhia?
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine was unleashed, the whole world has known about the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the country’s main plant. On 30 September 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Moscow had annexed the Zaporizhzhia region to its federation. A dramatic controversy arose over the ownership of the plant, a place of combat: which country is responsible for the security of the plant? Ukraine as an invaded nation and a state having sovereignty over that territory? Why does Russia have de facto military control?
While this is happening Kiev claims that the plant and the territory are Ukrainian. The plant is still physically managed by Ukrainian personnel, but would be controlled by Rosatom, a company that oversees Russian nuclear energy. Since occupying the area, Moscow has also created a state-owned enterprise to oversee operations.
According to the United Nations “Nuclear safety is the responsibility of every nation using nuclear technology.”
The control and use of the plant’s energy are the main reasons for Russia and Ukraine.
But now it turns out that the United States has its own nuclear technology inside the Zaporizhzhia plant. Last month, the US Department of Energy sent Rosatom, the Russians therefore, a letter where warn not to touch US technology. THE CNN he viewed the letter and asked for explanations from Rosatom who did not answer the questions from the USA network.
It is unclear whether Rosatom has responded to the Stars and Stripes Department of Energy. “It is illegal under United States law,” states the letter, quoted by CNN“for unauthorized persons, including, but not limited to, Russian citizens and Russian entities, such as Rosatom and its subsidiaries, knowingly and willfully access, possess, control, export, storeseize, revise, re-export, ship, transfer, copy, manipulate such technology or technical data, or direct or authorize others to do the same, without such Russian entities becoming authorized recipients of the Secretary of the United States Department of Energy.”
Simply put, the Energy Department warned Rosatom that it is “illegal” for any Russian citizen or entity to handle US technology if you are not a recipient of such technology.
The USA may have sold, ceded this technology or participated in the modernization of the Zaporizhzhia plant, after the fall of the Soviet Union, but they should not advance rights to a technology that has undergone such a transfer to a so-called sovereign country. Unless that technology is still US owned.
Since Ukraine is not a US state, questions arise spontaneously: What are US technologies doing in a nuclear power plant in Ukraine? Why is the US talking about respecting US law? Are there US atomic weapons in Zaporizhzhia? We should at least clarify. Because a year ago the Kremlin stated several times that Ukraine was developing nuclear weapons, i.e. atomic bombs, precisely in that plant to keep the Russians in check or possibly strike them.
However you look at it, as long as the war persists and Ukraine and Russia continue to fight for control of the plant, nuclear disaster remains in the offing. Even the current regulations have proved inadequate to give answers to the situation caused by the war around the plant. New international standards need to be redesigned for the management of nuclear energy shared that can also take into consideration conflicts and situations like these.
“The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Safety Administration”she said CNN Shayela Hassan, deputy director of public affairs of the National Nuclear Security Administration, “can confirm that the letter is legitimate”. And so the case is true.
The CNN reports that the story was first covered by the news RBC Ukraine.
Subscribe to the newsletter