The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is preparing to send “in the next few days” inspectors to “two nuclear sites in Ukraine.” This announcement follows Russian statements that Ukraine is manufacturing a “dirty bomb”.
An accusation that Kyiv denies. The next IAEA visit to these sites comes at the request of the Ukrainian authorities. “I officially invited the IAEA to urgently send experts to peaceful facilities in Ukraine, where Russia fraudulently claims a dirty bomb is being developed.” wrote on Twitter Foreign Minister of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba.
“Unlike Russia, Ukraine has always been and remains transparent. We have nothing to hide,” he added.
Two sites already inspected
“The International Atomic Energy Agency is aware of statements made by the Russian Federation on Sunday about alleged activities at two nuclear sites in Ukraine,” it said in a statement. The UN organization also added that these two sites were already subject to its regular inspections and that one of them had been inspected a month ago.
“All our findings were consistent with Ukraine’s safeguards declarations. No undeclared nuclear material or activity was discovered there,” IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said.
The objective of these new visits is to detect any possible activity or undeclared nuclear material. While the agency statement does not mention which sites will be inspected, the Russian news agency RIA Novosti identified the Eastern Mineral Enrichment Plant in the Dnipropetrovsk region and the kyiv Nuclear Research Institute.
A bomb that aims “to scare”
The very nature of these weapons raises questions. The term “dirty bomb”, also called “radiological dispersal device” (RDD), designates more generally any detonating device that disseminates one or more chemically or biologically toxic products (NRBC – nuclear, radiological, biological or chemical).
The “dirty bomb” uses a conventional explosive and its main objective is to contaminate a geographical area and the people who are there both by direct radiation and by ingestion or inhalation of radioactive materials.
“A dirty bomb is not a ‘weapon of mass destruction’ but a ‘weapon of mass disruption’ whose primary purpose is to contaminate and scare,” summarizes the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. (US NRC).
Source: BFM TV
