IAEA

• Recent reports of a series of drone strikes on Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) have demonstrated the serious safety and security concerns at Europe’s largest nuclear power station.
• It has not been confirmed who is responsible for the strikes.
• Both Russia, which occupied ZNPP in March 2022, and Ukraine have pointed the finger at each other.

Drones strike targets

• Attacks have included a drone strike on the oxygen and nitrogen production facility, two on the training centre and a drone shot down above a turbine hall.
• It is clearly part of the power plant, yet is isolated and likely contains little to no nuclear material, meaning the risk of resulting nuclear accident is relatively low.

• The IAEA has repeatedly stated that there can be no benefit to any party from a nuclear disaster at the plant.
• Ukrainian personnel still working at ZNPP have claimed that Russia has turned the plant into a military base.
• The IAEA continues to call for restraint and for all military activity to be halted in the vicinity of the plant.

A risky restart

• This means the cooling water in the reactor is below 100°C and at atmospheric pressure.
• This is safer than the previous state of “hot shutdown”, but a restart would be far worse than either of these.
• Putting ZNPP, a plant still on the front line of an armed conflict, into operation would therefore be highly risky.
• Chernobyl Remembrance Day commemorates the world’s worst nuclear disaster, which occurred in 1986 in what is today Ukraine.

Ross Peel is affiliated with the Centre for Science & Security Studies at King's College London.

• Iran’s attack involved around 170 drones, over 30 cruise missiles and more than 120 ballistic missiles, all directed against Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
• But various options have been canvassed, including a strike of some sort against Iran’s nuclear weapons programme.
• It has assassinated a number of nuclear scientists over the years, and launched a number of attacks on the country’s nuclear facilities.
• Believed to have been created through collaboration between US and Israeli intelligence, the Stuxnet malware was designed to severely disrupt centrifuge operations at Natanz and is thought to have set back Iran’s nuclear weapons programme by years.

Iran’s nuclear weapons history

• The country developed a civil nuclear programme under the late Shah, and in 1970 ratified the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, committing the country not to possess nor develop nuclear weapons.
• During the late 1990s and early 2000s, Iran pursued a secret nuclear weapons development project, known as the Amad Plan.

• But it is thought that by then, Iran had the capacility to build a small and fairly crude nuclear device.
• A great deal of what we know about the development of Iran’s nuclear weapons programme stems from the 2018 Mossad raid.
• This revealed that work on weapons development was not entirely halted, and that Iran continued to work on improving its nuclear weapons capability.
• It has resumed operations at nuclear facilities previously prohibited under the terms of the agreement and, since February 2021, has prevented the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) from effectively monitoring its nuclear sites.

Can an Iranian ‘bomb’ be prevented?

• First, Iran possesses the requisite expertise to develop nuclear weapons, which cannot be eradicated through bombing raids.
• While targeting Iranian facilities would temporarily hinder the programme, any setbacks would likely be short-lived.
• Destroying Iran’s nuclear facilities in Natanz would be essential, but accessing these facilities would necessitate a significant number of airstrikes penetrating deep into Iranian territory, while circumventing or overpowering its air defence systems.

Christoph Bluth does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

• RESTON, Va., March 13, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lightbridge Corporation (“Lightbridge”) (Nasdaq: LTBR), an advanced nuclear fuel technology company, today announced that Lightbridge President and CEO Seth Grae will participate in a series of upcoming nuclear events.
• IAEA Nuclear Energy Summit 2024, Brussels, Belgium – Thursday, March 21
  World leaders will gather in Brussels at the first ever Nuclear Energy Summit to highlight the role of nuclear energy in addressing the global challenges to reduce the use of fossil fuels, enhance energy security and boost economic development.
• The conference aims to provide a platform for international experts from vendors, utilities, research laboratories, and universities to exchange ideas and latest developments on a wide spectrum of topics.
• For more information on the panel, visit: https://www.ans.org/meetings/physor2024/session/view-2379/

• The organization was established 48 years ago and the 2023 results represent a record in new commitments.
• OPEC Fund Director-General Dr. Abdulhamid Alkhalifa said: "In 2023, the OPEC Fund increased its impact through the delivery of development support in a challenging global environment.
• We were also able to leverage our partnerships to mobilize development support by working with multilateral development banks and development finance institutions such as the Arab Coordination Group.
• The issuance of the OPEC Fund's benchmark SDG bond raised US$1 billion for sustainable development projects.