Satellite images show changes Russia are making to occupied nuclear plant
Satellite images show changes Russia are making to occupied nuclear plant
Russia is making changes to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant it has occupied for almost a year. Experts from Ukraine and the IAEA are voicing their concerns for nuclear safety as fighting in the plant’s vicinity continues. CNN’s Clare Sebastian reports. #CNN #News
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0.1 -> Ukrainian authorities report
1.868 -> a series of Russian rocket attacks
4.537 -> hit a residential building
6.506 -> in the city of Zaporizhzhia overnight.
8.708 -> Emergency response
9.943 -> teams rescued nine people,
11.911 -> including a pregnant woman.
13.847 -> The attack killed
14.814 -> at least two people and rescue
16.783 -> efforts are ongoing.
18.785 -> Officials are raising concerns
20.82 -> about the safety of the nearby
22.455 -> nuclear power plant.
24.157 -> The head of the International
25.525 -> Atomic Energy Agency says the plant faces
28.828 -> persistent security risks due to the war.
32.232 -> This Saturday will mark one year since
34.801 -> Russian forces
35.702 -> seized control of the nuclear site.
38.138 -> And as CNN's Clare
39.305 -> Sebastian reports, experts are worried
41.441 -> Russia's tight grip on the facility
43.71 -> could lead to disaster
47.814 -> A year into its occupation
49.449 -> of the Parisian
50.35 -> nuclear power plant,
51.718 -> Russia is making changes.
54.254 -> Satellite images
55.255 -> showing the dry storage area
57.09 -> where spent nuclear fuel is kept
59.192 -> after being cooled
60.627 -> first in August last year.
62.762 -> Then at the end of February,
64.664 -> what looks like a wall of structure
66.766 -> has appeared.
67.901 -> Russia's atomic energy company
69.436 -> Rosatom tells state media
71.371 -> it's building a shield to protect
73.173 -> against Ukrainian artillery strikes.
75.375 -> A local Russian backed
76.443 -> official posted this in December,
78.778 -> calling it a protective dome.
80.814 -> It's only
82.849 -> doing what was
84.751 -> supposed to impact nuclear safety.
89.255 -> The head of Ukraine's
90.323 -> atomic energy company
91.458 -> and Erika
91.858 -> Adams
92.325 -> says it's all part
93.726 -> of a deteriorating situation.
95.462 -> It's a pariah
96.529 -> that he is powerless to stop.
98.331 -> What is the biggest risk right now
100.433 -> when it comes to safety in the plant?
102.969 -> Well, yeah,
103.503 -> because those things that we don't know
106.506 -> what is the fence of the moment
109.375 -> you can expect.
111.111 -> And
112.412 -> so they continue
114.714 -> shelling on the ground for example,
117.951 -> another atom says Russia,
119.552 -> which forcibly took over the plant
121.354 -> last March,
122.255 -> damaging several buildings
123.69 -> in the process,
124.691 -> continues to use it
126.059 -> as a de facto military base.
128.528 -> This video surfaced
130.23 -> last summer of military
131.531 -> trucks in one of the turbine buildings
133.5 -> next to a reactor last month.
136.136 -> An atom accused Russia
137.537 -> of bringing hundreds of newly
139.072 -> mobilized troops to the site
140.907 -> before deploying them to the east.
143.009 -> Rosatom is own press
144.21 -> service for the power plant,
145.345 -> denied there's any heavy
146.846 -> military equipment on site,
148.748 -> but noted that Russia's
149.949 -> National Guard troops,
151.484 -> Putin's domestic security force,
153.72 -> are guarding the plant.
155.455 -> I'm very worried about the supplies.
157.49 -> I'm very worried.
159.292 -> And that Atom says
160.46 -> the plant
161.027 -> has been cut off
162.061 -> from the electricity grid
163.263 -> five times in total,
165.331 -> leaving diesel generators
166.799 -> the last line of
167.7 -> defense before a catastrophe.
170.937 -> Fighting has
171.771 -> also come to close
175.708 -> The IAEA reports shelling into building
178.111 -> housing fresh nuclear fuel in September
181.181 -> and a reactor building in November.
184.083 -> And that atom now estimates
185.685 -> four and a half thousand
187.02 -> Ukrainian staff
188.054 -> are left
188.488 -> at the plant out of 11,000
190.723 -> before the war.
191.858 -> That reduction of the number of people
193.56 -> is going to have
a significant impact
195.528 -> on their ability
196.429 -> to maintain and function sort of systems,
198.831 -> whether or not
199.332 -> that security systems, safety
201.234 -> systems, radiation
202.202 -> monitoring, nuclear expert
203.937 -> Nick Tomkinson says he is working
205.805 -> with the Ukrainian government
207.006 -> to try to deploy radiation
208.575 -> mapping systems
209.742 -> and to Parisa and other nuclear sites.
212.078 -> One of the concerns could be that
213.68 -> things could go missing
215.348 -> and bombs are easier, particularly
217.984 -> some of the fuel.
218.818 -> I'm not worried about my.
220.119 -> What I'd be worried about
221.254 -> was is an active decision
223.389 -> to do something.
225.058 -> Ukraine's nuclear
225.992 -> power company,
226.593 -> though, is worried about a slow
228.461 -> motion mistake
229.829 -> for maintenance
230.73 -> leading to the degradation
231.998 -> of the equipment on the site.
233.733 -> Including the reactors themselves.
235.668 -> Currently,
236.102 -> all in various states have shut down.
238.905 -> It is bore to the stage, though.
241.474 -> Nobody wants to
243.476 -> if we will be able to operate it.
248.248 -> This is just the start.
251.251 -> The Russian
251.651 -> side says
252.252 -> strict radiation safety
253.686 -> standards are being observed.
256.055 -> Hardly a consolation
257.423 -> when 20% of Ukraine's electricity supply
260.893 -> remains hostage to this war.
265.298 -> Whereas me, there is no let up.
267 -> The IAEA,
267.8 -> the UN's nuclear
268.468 -> watchdog, reports
269.369 -> last weekend that the backup power line
272.338 -> connecting the plant to the Ukrainian
274.641 -> electricity grid was severed again.
276.542 -> It was then restored.
277.81 -> The staff there also said
279.212 -> they had around 20 detonations
282.282 -> in the vicinity of the plant.
283.883 -> This as the IAEA is expressing concern
286.019 -> that a planned rotation
287.687 -> of staff to that
288.721 -> plant is more than three weeks late.
291.591 -> And I want to point out as well
292.759 -> that Rosatom, Russia's
293.96 -> nuclear energy
294.527 -> monopoly, continues
296.095 -> to avoid most Western sanctions,
298.564 -> even as
299.232 -> the rest of Russia's energy
300.466 -> industry has been heavily
301.901 -> sanctioned Rosemary.
303.236 -> Many thanks to Clare
304.103 -> Sebastian for that report.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJc0D9iibDc