Rosatom reacted to the sanctions imposed by the Kyiv regime against the nuclear industry of the Russian Federation.

As emphasized in the state corporation, nuclear energy should be out of politics.

“We are convinced that nuclear energy should be out of the political conjuncture.

Rosatom operates around the world in a transparent manner, in the interests of customers and partners, and in strict compliance with international obligations and national legislation,” Rosatom said in a statement.

Recall that on the night of February 6, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky announced the entry into force of the decision of the National Security and Defense Council on restrictions on the Russian nuclear industry.

“The decision of the National Security and Defense Council on sanctions against the Russian nuclear industry has been put into effect.

And this is not the last decision regarding this industry of theirs.

The point of our steps is also to support the efforts of our diplomats to expand global sanctions on this part of the Russian aggression machine,” Zelensky said.

Sanctions were imposed against 200 Russian organizations, including Rosatom and its subsidiaries.

According to Zelensky, Russia allegedly shells nuclear power plants and uses nuclear power plants "as a cover for shelling."

According to him, "Russian missiles repeatedly passed along trajectories over the nuclear facilities of Ukraine."

In addition, the Ukrainian president claims that Moscow is using the nuclear industry as an instrument of pressure on other states in order to create threats to their sovereignty.

Russia has repeatedly rejected the accusations of the Kyiv regime.

Moreover, it was the constant strikes of the Armed Forces of Ukraine that caused the construction of a protective dome over the storage of spent nuclear waste at the Zaporozhye NPP.

Russia expects that a security zone will appear near the nuclear facility, which will not allow the Ukrainian army to damage the ZNPP facilities.

However, there has been no progress on this issue to date.

According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the Kyiv regime is in no hurry to give a clear answer and is playing for time.

The draft declaration on the creation of a protective zone around the ZNPP was submitted to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmitry Kuleba on September 21.

The Ukrainian side still did not react to the document in any way.

  • Zaporozhye NPP

  • RIA News

  • © Evgeny Biyatov

After the referendum on the entry of the Zaporozhye region into the Russian Federation, Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed to accept the ZNPP facilities into federal ownership.

As a result, on the basis of the former Ukrainian plant, the government of the Russian Federation established the Federal State Unitary Enterprise (FGUP) Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant.

In a RT commentary, a leading researcher at the Institute of CIS Countries, Candidate of Economic Sciences Alexander Dudchak, said that the "nationalization" of the station by Russia was one of the reasons for the restrictions against the Russian nuclear industry.

Also, as the expert said, with sanctions against the nuclear industry of the Russian Federation, the Zelensky regime is trying to divert the attention of the world from the topic of placing weapons supplied by the West at its own nuclear power plants.

Recall that at the end of January, the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation reported that the Armed Forces of Ukraine were storing weapons and ammunition provided by the West on the territories of nuclear power plants.

“This applies to the most expensive and scarce for the Armed Forces missiles for the HIMARS MLRS and foreign air defense systems, as well as large-caliber artillery ammunition.

Only in the last week of December 2022, several railway wagons of deadly cargo were delivered from abroad through the Rafalivka railway station to the Rivne NPP, ”the SVR materials say.

According to the intelligence service, "the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine hides ammunition in the rear, hiding behind nuclear reactors."

“The calculation is based on the fact that the Russian Armed Forces, realizing the danger of a nuclear catastrophe, will not strike at the territories of nuclear power plants.

If a large-scale detonation of warehouses and the destruction of a nuclear power plant happen due to the fault of another “stray” Ukrainian air defense missile, then the blame for the tragedy can always be attributed to Moscow, ”the secret service stressed.

The Foreign Intelligence Service hopes that the Kyiv regime will not deliberately blow up warehouses at nuclear power plants with Western military products "in the hope of begging even more weapons and ammunition from the United States and its allies."

  • According to the terrorists' training manual: the SVR received data on the storage of Western weapons at Ukrainian nuclear power plants

Recall that on the territory controlled by the Kyiv regime, there are four nuclear power plants: Chernobyl, Rivne, Khmelnitsky, South-Ukrainian.

All of them were built during the years of the USSR.

ZNPP is the largest and most powerful plant in all of Europe.

It is located in the city of Energodar on the Kakhovka reservoir near the left bank of the Dnieper.

To date, Russian specialists have eliminated critical damage at the facility due to shelling by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

"Dangerous Politics"

As Alexander Dudchak stated, another reason for the sanctions against the nuclear sector of the Russian Federation lies in the eternal desire of Kyiv to be the "pioneer" of the most radical anti-Russian measures. 

“Kyiv here once again performs the function of the initiator of the most insane anti-Russian measures.

And he does this, apparently, at the behest of his external curators, ”Dudchak emphasized.

So, on February 2, the European Parliament proposed the European Union to introduce restrictive measures against Rosatom, which is still cooperating with European companies.

With a similar initiative, according to Reuters, in mid-January, the authorities of Poland and Lithuania came forward.

This type of restriction may be included in the tenth package of EU sanctions.

In an interview with RT, Sergei Kondratiev, a senior expert at the Institute of Energy and Finance, noted that the West had not previously imposed sanctions on our nuclear industry due to its dependence on the supply of nuclear fuel and critical equipment to ensure the operation of nuclear power plants.

“Russia is one of the few self-sufficient countries in the field of nuclear energy.

And the West depends on some Russian supplies.

Sanctions against the nuclear industry could hit many Western countries.

I think that if they are nevertheless adopted, they will not become large-scale, ”Kondratiev said.

According to the expert, the role of the first violin in the sanctions against Rosatom can result in a complete break in cooperation in the nuclear energy sector for Ukraine.

As a result, Kyiv will lose the ability to purchase fuel, sophisticated equipment and maintain it.

  • Rivne NPP

  • © Wikimedia Commons / Vladimir Dyakov / CC BY-SA 3.0

Kondratiev believes that Western countries will not be able to fully replace Russian products and services of domestic specialists.

Despite this, Kyiv has long been trying to replace specialized equipment from the Russian Federation with foreign analogues.

And this process began even before the Maidan.

It is known that in 2012, specialists from the South Ukrainian NPP encountered problems during the operation of TVELs (fuel elements. -

RT

) of the American company Westinghouse.

As a result, two blocks of this station were stopped, and American fuel was temporarily replaced with Russian.

“Fuel elements are the main element of the reactor, it contains nuclear fuel.

This is, in fact, the heart of the nuclear power plant.

Fuel elements are assembled into fuel assemblies (fuel assemblies. -

RT

).

Their quality greatly affects the functioning of the core.

Kyiv stubbornly ignores the fact that Russian products surpass Westinghouse products in key parameters, ”Kondratiev said.

According to the expert, the Kyiv regime and the leadership of the Ukrainian nuclear industry are trying to completely get away from technological dependence on Russia.

But this process will inevitably turn into big problems.

“It was not without difficulty that Westinghouse learned how to make hexagonal fuel assemblies, like at Rosatom.

So far, Ukrainian nuclear power plants are functioning normally.

But over time, technical problems will accumulate.

The most important, in my opinion, is that Ukraine does not know how to recycle spent nuclear fuel, and the West is not eager to help it, ”the RT interlocutor explained.

Dudchak also believes that sanctions against the nuclear industry of the Russian Federation by the Kyiv regime could turn into a series of incidents.

At the same time, as the expert noted, Moscow is still open to cooperation with Kyiv, realizing the scale of a possible catastrophe.

“Zelensky is pursuing a very dangerous policy, because Soviet nuclear power plants are not designed to install products from Western companies.

In addition, Ukraine does not know how to process spent nuclear fuel.

Nevertheless, Zelensky, as I understand it, is not at all interested in the consequences of sanctions against Rosatom, ”Dudchak stated.