Russia-Ukraine War UN Nuclear Chief Warns Kursk Plant at Risk

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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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