Russia-Ukraine War UN Nuclear Chief Warns Kursk Plant at Risk
Russia-Ukraine War UN Nuclear Chief Warns Kursk Plant at Risk
Transcript
00:00You
00:30So Russia is ramping up strikes in Ukraine, but inside Russia a more dangerous situation
00:39is developing.
00:41Moscow says Ukraine wants to take a nuclear plant, the Kursk Nuclear Facility.
00:47Intense fighting is on, barely 40 kilometers from this plant.
01:15Ukraine is intensifying its operations inside Russia.
01:33The video you just saw came out earlier this month.
01:36Ukraine has been going after Russia's critical infrastructure.
01:39In this instance, an oil depot was hit by a Ukrainian drone.
01:43And there have been other attacks like this one.
01:45Moscow is raising an alarm about it now.
01:47Last week Vladimir Putin made a big claim.
01:49He said Ukraine tried to strike the nuclear plant in Kursk.
01:55The International Atomic Energy Agency has been informed.
01:59They promised to come themselves to send specialists to assess the situation.
02:03I hope that in the end this will be done on their part.
02:09He mentioned the International Atomic Energy Agency, the IAEA.
02:13That's the United Nations nuclear watchdog.
02:15The IAEA is deeply concerned.
02:18The agency chief traveled to Kursk today.
02:21They're calling the situation an emergency.
02:24I was informed about the impact of drones.
02:29I was shown some of the remnants of those and signs of the impact they had.
02:38The fact that the plant is operating may get even more serious in terms of an eventual
02:44action against it.
02:46When a plant is operating, the temperature is much higher.
02:49And if there was the case of an impact or something that could affect it, there would
02:58be serious consequences.
03:01Ukraine has not said anything about this yet.
03:04But it's fairly obvious.
03:05Ukrainian forces are trying to move closer to this facility.
03:08The Kursk plant is one of Russia's top nuclear power stations.
03:12It is around 60 kilometers away from the Russia-Ukraine border.
03:16Moscow fears that Ukrainian forces could launch an attack soon.
03:20Security at the plant has been heightened.
03:22Its employees have been sent on a leave.
03:24Instead, Russian troops have been deployed there.
03:27They've been digging trenches around the site.
03:29So this nuclear plant is now part of an active war zone.
03:34Rafael Grossi has issued warnings.
03:36He's the director general of the IAEA, the man you just heard from.
03:40He says the Kursk facility is within artillery range, meaning Ukrainian forces could strike
03:46this plant from a distance and that could lead to a disaster, something like the Chernobyl
03:51accident of 1986 or even worse.
03:56Let me tell you why.
03:58The Kursk facility is not a modern nuclear plant.
04:00It still uses old Soviet technology.
04:03Its reactors do not have any extra layers of protection around them and that makes them
04:07quite dangerous.
04:09Consider what Grossi said, and I'm quoting, they don't have a protective dome around them,
04:13just the normal roof, which means the reactor's core is pretty exposed.
04:18So the reactors are vulnerable.
04:20What if a rocket dropped on this facility or if one of the reactors was struck by artillery?
04:25There could be a massive disaster, a catastrophic meltdown just like Chernobyl, which was the
04:32worst nuclear disaster in human history.
04:35The explosion released more radiation than the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima, over 400
04:40times more.
04:41The disaster has made Chernobyl inhabitable.
04:44No one would be able to live there for 20,000 years because of radiation.
04:50Now Kursk in Russia faces a similar risk.
04:53The reactors here run on the same technology as Chernobyl.
04:58It's called the RBMK.
05:01That's the technology.
05:02Before this plant had four reactors, they were built before the Chernobyl disaster and
05:06used the same RBMK technology.
05:09Today only two reactors are operational, but the risk of a massive disaster still remains.
05:14And to make it worse, the Russian town of Kurskatov is nearby.
05:20Civilians live close to the nuclear facility.
05:23Bomb shelters are being installed there now.
05:25The locals are worried about their safety.
05:29There are concerns, of course.
05:31It is happening here, at our borders.
05:34We have faith in our soldiers.
05:38Sometimes it can be quite loud.
05:40The kids were initially worried, but I explained to my older daughter that we are being protected.
05:44The air defense system is activated.
05:46It means everyone is informed.
05:51Soldiers should not fight near a nuclear power plant.
05:53That is just common sense.
05:55But throughout this war, nuclear plants have been caught in the crossfire.
05:59First it was Japorizhia, where the fighting still hasn't stopped, by the way.
06:02Just a few weeks ago, one of the towers at Japorizhia was attacked.
06:07And now Kursk is under threat.
06:10This madness needs to end.
06:12We can only hope for cooler heads to prevail, although the intensifying attacks between
06:16Ukraine and Russia are not reassuring.
06:18They are putting the whole world at risk.
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